Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Down 7.9% in July

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, a drop of 7.9% from the July 15th total of 7,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $870.59 on Monday. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $530.56 and a 52-week high of $896.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $848.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $783.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 5,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,522,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 42,955 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $28,353,000 after purchasing an additional 7,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 11,561 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,631,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.