Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $855.00 and last traded at $856.17. 255,463 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,953,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $859.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Argus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $810.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $744.39.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by 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.