Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Sells $1,034,011.00 in Stock

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $9.00 on Thursday, hitting $938.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,544,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,822,819. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $987.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $946.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $416.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.12, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 182.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. NCP Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 29,895 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,503,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $337,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.