Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Earns Outperform Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $1,100.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 20.02% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 5.2 %

COST stock opened at $916.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $702.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $988.70 and its 200-day moving average is $948.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,203,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 11,755 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,421,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 45,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,149,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $5,053,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.