Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.5% After Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded down 0.5% on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $841.80 and last traded at $844.36. 523,794 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,984,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $848.73.

Specifically, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,135 shares of company stock valued at $3,404,576. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $831.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $756.02. The firm has a market cap of $373.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at 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.