Telsey Advisory Group Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $1,100.00 price objective on the retailer's stock.

COST has been the subject of several other reports. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho started 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 for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded down $11.92 during trading on Thursday, reaching $970.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,892,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,421. The company's fifty day moving average price is $1,005.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.68. The company has a market capitalization of $430.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently 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.