Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nineteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,037.48.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0%

COST opened at $970.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $430.32 billion, a PE ratio of 55.04, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1,003.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $982.06.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.