Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Raised to $950.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective lifted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $875.00 to $950.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 9.80% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also commented on COST. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $10.26 during trading on Monday, reaching $865.19. 958,220 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,992,976. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $844.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $776.95. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67. The firm has a market cap of $383.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, LifePro Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.