Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.6%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $850.81 and last traded at $852.03. 309,363 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,962,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $856.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $378.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $796.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $736.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 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.