UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at UBS Group from $840.00 to $1,040.00 in a research report issued on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the retailer’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 4.42% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $957.07.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $996.02. 988,587 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,918,930. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $630.30 and a 12-month high of $1,007.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $441.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.11, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $922.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $882.71.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. 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.