Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.8%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares shot up 0.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $728.40 and last traded at $728.03. 247,480 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 2,018,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $722.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

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’s 50-day moving average is $730.34 and its 200-day moving average is $670.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 1,191 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $262,000. Jacobsen Capital Management lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 16.0% in the third quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 528 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northstar Asset Management LLC now owns 2,650 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Pachira Investments Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. now owns 1,107 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 28 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.