Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) PT Raised to $900.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target hoisted by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $850.00 to $900.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price points to a potential upside of 4.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on COST. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $862.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $807.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $743.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $398,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,521 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $277,690,000 after buying an additional 31,633 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 200,761 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $113,415,000 after buying an additional 13,883 shares in the last quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% during the third quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 16,589 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,372,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.