Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) was upgraded by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $215.00 price target on the retailer’s stock, up from their prior price target of $192.73. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective points to a potential upside of 11.56% from the stock’s previous close.
A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on COST. Vetr upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $182.22 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, August 21st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, August 24th. Robert W. Baird reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, August 25th. Cowen reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, UBS reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, August 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.24.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ COST) traded up $6.20 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $192.73. 8,451,801 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,120,063. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $150.00 and a 52 week high of $195.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $84,720.00, a PE ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98.
In other Costco Wholesale news, insider John D. Mckay sold 8,111 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.78, for a total transaction of $1,401,418.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 66,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,533,237.78. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Meisenbach sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.26, for a total transaction of $549,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,654 shares in the company, valued at $1,585,932.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,842 shares of company stock valued at $5,520,848 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,005.9% during the second quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,180,770 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $668,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,046,164 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15,937.3% during the second quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,448,646 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439,613 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,777,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,843,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007,720 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,640,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,380,168,000 after purchasing an additional 937,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.4% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,805,874 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,118,138,000 after purchasing an additional 858,969 shares in the last quarter. 71.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Costco Wholesale Company Profile
Costco Wholesale Corporation is engaged in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Spain, and through its subsidiaries in Taiwan and Korea. As of August 28, 2016, the Company operated 715 warehouses across the world.
