Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Down 5.9% in March

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,360,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the March 15th total of 6,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $715.97 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $730.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $658.84. The stock has a market cap of $317.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Opinicus Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the first quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,313 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,486,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,130 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $828,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.5% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 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.