Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price was up 0.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $884.51 and last traded at $878.88. Approximately 181,670 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 1,960,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $877.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

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 company has a market cap of $389.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $851.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $788.53.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Aldebaran Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $446,000. Ted Buchan & Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,677,000. IMS Capital Management grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,794 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 316,993 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $269,441,000 after acquiring an additional 3,526 shares during the period. 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.