Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $1,034.79.

Several equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $95,452,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $977.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $433.60 billion, a PE ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00. 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 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1,002.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.16.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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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