Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.8% Following Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares shot up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $1,063.00 and last traded at $1,051.20. 778,708 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 1,913,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,042.88.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,015.44.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,896,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,312 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $80,063,000 after purchasing an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 8,159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,233,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 418 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $466.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $958.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $911.67.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.25%.

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.