Costco Wholesale’s (COST) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $1,100.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $949.52 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $967.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $983.35. The company has a market cap of $421.09 billion, a PE ratio of 53.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 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.