Roth Mkm Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $755.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price lifted by Roth Mkm from $676.00 to $755.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and set a $780.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

COST opened at $886.52 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $871.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $818.37. The company has a market cap of $393.03 billion, a PE ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 16.02 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position 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 valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.