Telsey Advisory Group Reiterates Outperform Rating for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST)

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $800.00 price objective on the retailer’s stock.

COST has been the topic of several other reports. DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.0 %

COST stock opened at $779.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $345.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $731.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $676.58. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after acquiring an additional 132,292 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 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 worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.