Costco Wholesale’s (COST) Neutral Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $1,000.00 target price on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,023.41.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $894.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $396.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $919.68 and a 200-day moving average of $955.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,141,062,000 after purchasing an additional 90,107 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. 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.