Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.4% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was up 0.4% on Tuesday after Tigress Financial raised their price target on the stock from $870.00 to $975.00. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $853.43 and last traded at $851.51. Approximately 312,743 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,969,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $848.16.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $379.86 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $793.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $735.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.