Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price was down 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $727.75 and last traded at $728.39. Approximately 312,104 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,150,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $730.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $722.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $640.72. The stock has a market cap of $323.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $12,398,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $243,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 352,961 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $232,982,000 after purchasing an additional 98,184 shares during the period. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 427 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $4,225,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.