Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target Cut to $1,045.00 by Analysts at Loop Capital

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target cut by Loop Capital from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the retailer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,025.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $16.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $949.07. The company had a trading volume of 2,124,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,992,556. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $984.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $948.65. The stock has a market cap of $421.09 billion, a PE ratio of 55.72, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $702.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.