Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1.2% After Earnings Beat

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price rose 1.2% on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $886.00 and last traded at $884.48. Approximately 2,898,939 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average daily volume of 2,285,822 shares. The stock had previously closed at $874.41.

The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.04 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $998.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 3,176,606 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,893,697,000 after purchasing an additional 986,182 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.0%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $916.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $951.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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.