Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $800.00 to $1,060.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $974.64 and last traded at $965.88. Approximately 406,929 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,928,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.74.

COST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $997.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMS Capital Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,816 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,383,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.8% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. FFG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $9,539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $426.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.53, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $932.17 and its 200 day moving average is $888.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

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.