Costco Wholesale Co. Same-Store Sales Grow 10% in March (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale’s (NASDAQ:COST) same-store sales climbed 10% in the month of March. Costco Wholesale’s shares climbed by 0% in the first day of trading following the news.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $718.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $318.56 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $730.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $657.77.

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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

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

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.