Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 18.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned 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 $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $989.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $926.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $885.20. The stock has a market cap of $438.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. 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 has a 1-year low of $630.30 and a 1-year high of $1,007.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.3% during the second quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 530 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 55.8% in the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 33.4% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 15,084 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,821,000 after purchasing an additional 3,780 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.9% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,839 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CAP Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the second quarter. CAP Partners LLC now owns 515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.