Morgan Stanley Lowers Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $1,130.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has reduced its price target for Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00, while maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.
• Costco's recent earnings report showed a 17% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, reaching $86.16 billion, and an EPS of $5.87, beating estimates.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Costco, with 68.48% of the company's stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 in a research note issued on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the retailer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential upside of 19.79% from the stock's previous close.

COST has been the subject of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,062.50.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

COST stock opened at $943.31 on Friday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $956.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.87. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.51, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377,328 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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