Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 1.8% – What’s Next?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares fell 1.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $937.43 and last traded at $939.38. 402,343 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,937,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $956.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $940.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $893.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.54 billion, a PE ratio of 54.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,817 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,454,000 after buying an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. IMS Capital Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,816 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,383,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,112,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. 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.