Daiwa Capital Markets Lowers Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $917.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets from $947.00 to $917.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the retailer’s stock. Daiwa Capital Markets’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.30% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Gordon Haskett lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Roth Capital set a $769.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $991.39.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of COST stock opened at $862.65 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $382.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $913.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $947.23. Costco Wholesale has a 12-month low of $844.06 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.04 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Luminist Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the second quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Hobbs Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the second quarter. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 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.