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

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $915.95 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $955.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $970.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.10% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $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

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.