Oppenheimer has lifted its price target on Costco Wholesale (COST) to $1,160 from $1,100, keeping the warehouse retailer as its top pick ahead of the company’s May 28 earnings report.
The firm maintained its Outperform rating and flagged potential for transitory margin pressure tied to fuel costs. That could lead to a modest earnings per share miss in the upcoming quarter.
Costco Wholesale Corporation, COST
COST stock opened at $1,076.47 on Tuesday, up 2.6% on the day. The stock sits within 1% of its 52-week high of $1,079.83 and carries a market cap of $477.58 billion.
The P/E ratio stands at 55.98. InvestingPro data suggests the stock appears overvalued at current levels, though that hasn’t slowed institutional interest.
Analyst coverage is broadly constructive. UBS has a $1,175 target. Bank of America rates it a Buy with a $1,185 target. Goldman Sachs trimmed its target from $1,171 to $1,088 but kept a Buy rating. DA Davidson sits at $1,000 with a Neutral rating.
Of 34 analysts tracked by MarketBeat, 22 rate COST a Buy, 11 have a Hold, and just one has a Sell. The consensus average price target is $1,047.27.
On the institutional side, ProShare Advisors LLC grew its Costco position by 38.6% in Q4, adding 214,466 shares to bring its total to 769,624 shares worth around $663.7 million. Institutional investors now own 68.48% of the company’s stock.
Several other firms added to positions in Q4, including Envestnet Portfolio Solutions, which grew its stake by 31.3%, and Verde Capital Management, which added 15.6%.
Oppenheimer also noted that a special dividend or stock split could serve as additional positive catalysts. Twelve analysts have recently revised earnings estimates upward for the upcoming period.
April numbers were strong. Net sales rose 13% year over year. Comparable sales climbed 11.6%, and digital sales were up 18.8%.
The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 13%, from $1.30 to $1.47 per share. That was paid on May 15, to stockholders of record as of May 1. On an annualized basis, that’s $5.88 per share, giving a dividend yield of around 0.5%.
In its last posted earnings on March 11, Costco reported EPS of $4.58, beating estimates of $4.55. Revenue came in at $69.60 billion versus expectations of $68.96 billion, up 9.2% year over year.
For fiscal year 2026, analysts expect Costco to post EPS of $20.31.
Costco’s 50-day moving average sits at $1,002.78. The 200-day moving average is $956.31. The 12-month low was $844.06.
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