Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price shot up 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $722.50 and last traded at $721.04. 330,074 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,096,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $317.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $657.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.