Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Update

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the January 15th total of 6,360,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $5.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $1,071.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,409,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,921,622. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $969.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $923.85. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $475.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 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.