Stifel Nicolaus Increases Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $595.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $575.00 to $595.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.71% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $590.80 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $447.90 and a 1 year high of $591.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $561.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $541.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $261.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 28.10%. The business had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.20 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total transaction of $1,132,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,385,479.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $571.12, for a total value of $1,713,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,238,852.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total value of $1,132,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,385,479.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Inlet Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,980,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 2,134 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 66.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.