Loop Capital Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $1,005.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective lifted by Loop Capital from $975.00 to $1,005.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $873.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $910.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $870.67 and its 200-day moving average is $817.28. The company has a market capitalization of $392.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.