Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) was upgraded by research analysts at Gordon Haskett from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $191.00 target price on the retailer’s stock. Gordon Haskett’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 0.44% from the company’s current price.
Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Vetr downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $183.04 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Susquehanna Bancshares raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays restated a “buy” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $188.90.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) traded up $2.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $191.84. 3,472,300 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,230,000. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $150.00 and a 1 year high of $195.35. The company has a market capitalization of $84,250.00, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.98.
In related news, Director Richard M. Libenson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.03, for a total transaction of $3,860,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,484.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Richard A. Galanti sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.58, for a total transaction of $802,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,647,369.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,027 shares of company stock valued at $15,872,935 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $101,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $102,000. Jacobus Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $103,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $107,000. Finally, Shamrock Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 171.3% during the third quarter. Shamrock Asset Management LLC now owns 662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. 70.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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About Costco Wholesale
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.
