Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Earns Outperform Rating from Oppenheimer

Key Points

• Oppenheimer has reaffirmed an "outperform" rating for Costco Wholesale, setting a price target of $1,130.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.30% from the current stock price.
• Costco reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS), surpassing the consensus estimate of $5.81, with revenue of $86.16 billion for the recent quarter, an increase of 8.1% compared to the previous year.
• Seventeen equity research analysts have rated Costco's stock as "Buy", while ten have a "Hold" rating, with an average price target of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by Oppenheimer in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,130.00 price objective on the retailer's stock. Oppenheimer's price target suggests a potential upside of 22.30% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $19.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $923.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,375,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,214,305. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $956.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $970.87. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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