Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $800.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to an accumulate rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $763.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $731.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $675.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in 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.