Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $950.00 to $1,150.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the retailer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.23% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $976.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $981.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $924.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $883.45. The stock has a market cap of $434.66 billion, a PE ratio of 59.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale has a 1-year low of $630.30 and a 1-year 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.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.