Evercore ISI Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $890.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) had its price target raised by Evercore ISI from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the retailer's stock.

COST has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a neutral rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $8.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $862.44. 1,943,226 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,969,375. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $516.54 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $785.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $729.10. The company has a market cap of $382.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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.