Analysts Set Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target at $1,024.03

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,024.03.

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $999.04 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $720.63 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $962.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $958.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $443.26 billion, a PE ratio of 58.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

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.