Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) dropped 0.9% on Friday . The company traded as low as $905.59 and last traded at $915.30. Approximately 603,045 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,922,529 shares. The stock had previously closed at $923.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $403.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $897.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $856.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.