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

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price rose 0.1% during 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 trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,928,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.74.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,011.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $934.70 and a 200 day moving average of $890.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $422.72 billion, a PE ratio of 56.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.