Telsey Advisory Group Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $1,000.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target upped by Telsey Advisory Group from $925.00 to $1,000.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $870.67 and a 200-day moving average of $817.28. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the second 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 period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. 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.