Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price fell 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $881.00 and last traded at $883.00. 343,846 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 1,943,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $886.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $827.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $752.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. LifePro Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the second quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Arlington Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the first quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.