Costco Wholesale’s (COST) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $1,100.00 price target on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Gordon Haskett decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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 lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $884.47 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $867.12 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $916.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $950.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 79.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 4,861 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,745,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.