Evercore ISI Increases Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Price Target to $1,070.00

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its target price increased by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the retailer’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.57% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $933.90. 936,256 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,414. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.56 billion, a PE ratio of 54.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $989.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $944.28. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113.5% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $994,000. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,376 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,993,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.