Evercore ISI Lowers Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $1,025.00

Key Points

• Evercore ISI has decreased its price target for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) from $1,060 to $1,025, while maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting an expected upside of 8.66% from the current stock price.
• In addition to Evercore ISI, other analysts have provided various ratings and price targets for Costco, with an average target price of $1,062.50 and seventeen analysts giving it a Buy rating.
• Costco reported $5.87 earnings per share for its recent quarter, beating estimates and marking an 8.1% revenue increase year-over-year, indicating strong financial performance amidst mixed analyst commentary.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the retailer's stock. Evercore ISI's price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.66% from the stock's current price.

COST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,062.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $943.31 on Friday. 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 one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $956.40 and its 200 day moving average is $970.87.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,095,000. Rossmore Private Capital grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $241,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.