Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Costco Wholesale (COST)

Posted by Caroline Horne on Apr 19th, 2024

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) in the last few weeks:

4/12/2024 – Costco Wholesale was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
4/11/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $795.00 to $805.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
4/11/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group. They now have a $800.00 price target on the stock.
4/11/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at DA Davidson. They now have a $680.00 price target on the stock.
4/11/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Roth Mkm from $601.00 to $650.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
4/11/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target lowered by analysts at Loop Capital from $830.00 to $820.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
4/4/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group. They now have a $800.00 price target on the stock.
4/4/2024 – Costco Wholesale was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating.
4/3/2024 – Costco Wholesale was downgraded by analysts at Gordon Haskett from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating. They now have a $775.00 price target on the stock.
3/15/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Tigress Financial from $745.00 to $870.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
3/8/2024 – Costco Wholesale was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
3/5/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. from $760.00 to $805.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
3/4/2024 – Costco Wholesale had its price target raised by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group from $750.00 to $785.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $3.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $707.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,159,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,085,476. The firm has a market cap of $313.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.30, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $659.59. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP 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 transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.