Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $800.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $775.00 to $800.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 5.91% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $796.56.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 3.9 %

COST traded down $34.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $850.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,618,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,626. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $825.62 and its 200-day moving average is $751.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.