DA Davidson Raises Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $900.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from $880.00 to $900.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. DA Davidson’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 9.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $986.68.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $6.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $994.98. 1,885,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,924,494. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $924.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $883.45. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $630.30 and a fifty-two week high of $1,007.80. The firm has a market cap of $440.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.05, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,539,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 3,954 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,506,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.