Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.1%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $715.24 and last traded at $715.37. 266,166 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 2,085,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $715.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a market cap of $316.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $730.92 and a 200 day moving average of $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.