Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.3% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) were up 1.3% during trading on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $996.13 and last traded at $994.56. Approximately 419,855 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,919,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $982.26.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on COST. Barclays upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $928.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $439.80 billion, a PE ratio of 59.90, a PEG ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $915.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $878.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.