Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $1,145.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective lifted by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.02% from the company’s current price.

COST has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $928.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $3.99 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $986.93. 1,127,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,921,613. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $437.28 billion, a PE ratio of 59.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $912.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $876.08. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $603.86 and a fifty-two week high of $991.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.