Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.6%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price was up 0.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $739.78 and last traded at $736.87. Approximately 367,881 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,017,630 shares. The stock had previously closed at $732.44.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $730.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $670.52. The stock has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 50.5% in the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the period. MRA Advisory Group bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $372,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 107.7% during the 1st quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 1,545 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 6,528 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,783,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. 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.