Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target upped by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $950.00 to $1,150.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 17.23% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on COST. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $976.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $981.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $434.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale has a 12 month low of $630.30 and a 12 month high of $1,007.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $924.72 and its 200-day moving average is $883.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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, 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.