Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Truist Financial from $1,033.00 to $926.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the retailer’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.70% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Gordon Haskett lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of COST opened at $884.47 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $916.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $950.64. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $867.12 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $392.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 79.0% during the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 8,902 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,419,000 after purchasing an additional 3,928 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 30.1% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 21,026 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $19,887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,745,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.