Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Given Outperform Rating at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,100.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,064.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of COST opened at $940.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $939.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $969.58. The stock has a market cap of $416.92 billion, a PE ratio of 51.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $3,095,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.