Tigress Financial Raises Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $870.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target lifted by Tigress Financial from $745.00 to $870.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Tigress Financial currently has a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $5.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $731.54. 1,593,976 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,248,562. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $716.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $634.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.21, for a total transaction of $756,393.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,300 shares in the company, valued at $16,529,103. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.21, for a total transaction of $756,393.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,300 shares in the company, valued at $16,529,103. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,694 shares of company stock valued at $11,493,172. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 66.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.