Evercore ISI Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 8.73% from the company’s current price.

COST has been the topic of a number of other reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of COST stock opened at $974.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,002.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $432.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a PEG ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. 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.