Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price shot up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $953.07 and last traded at $951.18. 290,690 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,944,940 shares. The stock had previously closed at $949.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $425.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $935.90 and a 200-day moving average of $891.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.