Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1% After Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded up 1% during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $630.00 to $710.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $722.99 and last traded at $722.50. 277,432 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 2,066,722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $715.46.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $477,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 1,044 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 956 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,484 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,917,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $320.51 billion, a PE ratio of 47.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $730.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $664.04.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.