Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $971.04 and last traded at $970.56, with a volume of 87111 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $955.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $901.18 and its 200-day moving average is $865.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $427.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $285,618,000. 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.