Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 1.1%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $873.00 and last traded at $871.75. Approximately 345,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,945,784 shares. The stock had previously closed at $862.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $390.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $812.88 and its 200-day moving average is $745.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the first quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 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.