Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) PT Lowered to $925.00 at Oppenheimer

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price cut by Oppenheimer from $950.00 to $925.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Argus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $821.62.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $854.93 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $844.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $776.95. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $379.02 billion, a PE ratio of 52.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.