Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price lifted by analysts at Susquehanna Bancshares from $205.00 to $215.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm presently has a “positive” rating on the retailer’s stock. Susquehanna Bancshares’ price target points to a potential upside of 11.56% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other analysts have also recently commented on COST. Vetr raised Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $182.22 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 21st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research 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 research report on Friday, August 25th. Cowen reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $182.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $160.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $184.20.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ COST) traded up $6.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $192.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,486,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,967,005. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $81,511.67, a PE ratio of 31.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $150.00 and a fifty-two week high of $195.35.
In related news, Director John W. Meisenbach sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.92, for a total value of $164,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,152.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Richard A. Galanti sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.58, for a total value of $802,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,647,369.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,842 shares of company stock worth $5,520,848 over the last ninety days. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,640,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,380,168,000 after buying an additional 937,121 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 24,905,256 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,983,097,000 after buying an additional 703,825 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,777,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,843,102,000 after buying an additional 1,007,720 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,099,104 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,028,898,000 after buying an additional 177,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 9,281,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,484,350,000 after buying an additional 207,675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.49% of the company’s stock.
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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.
