Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $969.94 and last traded at $965.66. 257,158 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,922,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $961.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $430.61 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $907.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $872.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. 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 on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.