Mizuho Initiates Coverage on Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $975.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on COST. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $963.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a PE ratio of 56.57, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $702.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $982.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $949.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.