Costco Wholesale (COST) ‘Neutral’ Rating Confirmed at Roth Mkm

Roth Mkm maintained its neutral recommendation for the company’s shares Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $676.00 price target on the seller’s stock, up from their prior price target of $650.00.

COST has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson maintained a Neutral rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday. In a report on Saturday, May 25, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from buy to hold. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $845.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the company with a hold rating and nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $743.52.

Check out our latest Costco Wholesale inventory analysis

Costco wholesale inventory declines 0.7%

NASDAQ COST shares opened on Friday at $809.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $501.59 and a 52-week high of $819.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $750.13 and its 200 day moving average is $703.81. The company has a market capitalization of $359.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.97, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.77.

Wholesale Costco ( NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report ) last released earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesaler achieved a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $58.52 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.43 per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter increased 9.1% year-over-year. Equity research analysts expect Costco Wholesale to post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Wholesale retailer Costco increases dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10. Record investors received a dividend of $1.16 on Friday, April 26. This represents an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25. This represents a dividend of $4.64 on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Buying and selling confidential information

In other Costco wholesale news, VP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, available at this link. In other Costco wholesale news, VP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, available at this link. Additionally, Vice President Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the closing of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The announcement of this sale can be found here. Currently, company insiders own 0.18% of the shares.

Hedge funds influence Costco’s wholesale business

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 68.48% of the company’s shares.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Get the free report)

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates member 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 various product categories.

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