Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shot up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $980.00 to $1,075.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $933.50 and last traded at $920.22. 300,478 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,922,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $919.51.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This 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 valued at $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $412.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $898.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $862.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

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.