Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Now Covered by Hovde Group

Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a report issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the retailer’s stock. Hovde Group’s target price suggests a potential downside of 98.25% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on COST. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,025.07.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $912.59 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $933.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $965.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $404.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 5,903 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.