Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Cut to $990.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Key Points

• Analysts at Citigroup have lowered the price target for Costco Wholesale from $1,065 to $990, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock, which suggests an 8.08% upside from the current price.
• Costco reported a quarterly earnings per share of $5.87, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.81, with revenue of $86.16 billion marking an 8.1% increase year-over-year.
• In recent trades, Costco executives sold shares, with EVP Teresa A. Jones selling 600 shares at an average price of $992.05, indicating a 20.26% decrease in her stock position.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by analysts at Citigroup from $1,065.00 to $990.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the retailer's stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.08% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,072.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $955.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,141,062,000 after purchasing an additional 90,107 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,124,263,000 after purchasing an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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