Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $1,035.32.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 4.0%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,048.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a PE ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $983.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $975.34.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.36%.

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.