Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,060.00 at Citigroup

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $800.00 to $1,060.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.23% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.75.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $2.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $979.44. 361,820 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,925,673. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $640.51 and a 12 month high of $1,008.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $931.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $888.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.