Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 1.4% Higher

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price traded up 1.4% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $849.59 and last traded at $849.51. 550,262 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,984,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $838.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $375.69 billion, a PE ratio of 52.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $837.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $761.36.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.