Argus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target raised by Argus from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Argus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 31.01% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,072.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of COST stock opened at $915.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $955.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $3,095,000. Rossmore Private Capital increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $241,000. 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.