Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Given New $1,027.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $1,025.00 to $1,027.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the topic of several other reports. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,033.00 to $926.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,125.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $884.47 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $867.12 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $392.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $916.22 and its 200 day moving average is $951.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 635.7% in the second quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC now owns 2,553 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 120.0% in the third quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 33 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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.