Stifel Nicolaus Raises Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $925.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $915.00 to $925.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $886.52 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $871.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $818.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,842,241,000 after acquiring an additional 81,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.