Citigroup Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $710.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price increased by Citigroup from $630.00 to $710.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on COST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reissued a neutral rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $721.86 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $730.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $664.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $320.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.21, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $510,353,000. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $390,630,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently 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.