Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price shot up 0.7% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $950.00 to $1,000.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as high as $997.96 and last traded at $996.14. 536,616 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,922,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $989.35.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 125.8% in the second quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 12,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,416,000 after buying an additional 6,827 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.7% in the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,394 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.2% in the second quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 4,209 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,578,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 91.7% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,827 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,503,000 after buying an additional 4,222 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $929.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $887.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.91 billion, a PE ratio of 58.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

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. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

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.