Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Lowered to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $943.63 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.48 billion, a PE ratio of 53.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $980.80 and a 200 day moving average of $984.49. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $805.06 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,095,000. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $241,000. Finally, Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the first quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.