Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.7%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price was down 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $720.48 and last traded at $721.56. Approximately 194,187 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 2,026,538 shares. The stock had previously closed at $726.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given 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 target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $319.95 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $668.62.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 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.