Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Telsey Advisory Group in a report issued on Thursday, TipRanks reports. They currently have a $330.00 price objective on the retailer's stock. Telsey Advisory Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 1.37% from the company's current price.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on COST. Citigroup initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $310.00 price target for the company. Nomura Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, April 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Guggenheim restated a "hold" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $323.00.
Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $325.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $139.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.94, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $304.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.32. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $262.71 and a 52 week high of $325.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 1.11.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The retailer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters' consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $36.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.66 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 8.44 EPS for the current year.
In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.57, for a total value of $349,468.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,905,240.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Roland Michael Vachris sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.95, for a total transaction of $1,203,800.00. Insiders sold 26,650 shares of company stock valued at $8,208,438 over the last 90 days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Fortis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 98.1% in the first quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 103 shares of the retailer's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. ERTS Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.87% of the company's stock.
About Costco Wholesale
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates membership warehouses. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories. The company provides dry and packaged foods, and groceries; snack foods, candies, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, and cleaning supplies; appliances, electronics, health and beauty aids, hardware, and garden and patio products; meat, bakery, deli, and produces; and apparel and small appliances.
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