Costco – Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Rating Upgraded by BidaskClub
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) was upgraded by stock analysts at BidaskClub from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday, BidAskClub reports.
A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on COST. Northcoast Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 14th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $365.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 13th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 3rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $386.52.
Shares of COST stock opened at $376.78 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $271.28 and a 12 month high of $393.15. The stock has a market cap of $166.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $375.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $349.63.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 9th. The retailer reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.24. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 24.50%. The business had revenue of $43.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.
In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $362.59, for a total transaction of $362,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $7,795,685. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.65, for a total transaction of $936,625.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 59,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,418,306.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,361 shares of company stock valued at $3,883,426 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Provident Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Newfound Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Horan Capital Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Adams Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.40% of the company’s stock.
Costco Wholesale Company Profile
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.
Further Reading: What are the most popular ETFs
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]
20 Stocks Wall Street Analysts Love the Most
Every trading day, between 500 and 800 new recommendations and research reports are issued by sell-side equities research analysts. There are between 300 and 500 brokerages and research houses that issue ratings, price targets and recommendations and more than 5,000 securities around the world that regularly receive coverage from research analysts.
MarketBeat has tracked more than 170,000 distinct analyst recommendations in the last 12 months alone. Given the volume of ratings changes that occur each day, it can be difficult to sift through the noise.
Analysts don’t always get their “buy” ratings right, but it’s worth taking a hard look when more than a dozen different analysts from different brokerages and research firm are giving “strong buy” and “buy” ratings to the same stock.
This slide show lists the 20 companies that have the highest average analyst recommendations from Wall Street’s equities research analysts over the last 12 months.
View the “20 Stocks Wall Street Analysts Love the Most”.
Read Dow Jones Today.
