Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-one have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,024.03.

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $978.54 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $715.32 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $434.16 billion, a PE ratio of 57.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $964.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $956.90.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio 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.

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