Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the retailer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential upside of 16.80% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital dropped 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 note on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 4.0%

COST stock traded up $40.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1,048.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,175. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $983.85 and a 200 day moving average of $975.34. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $788.20 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a PE ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during 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. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.