Costco Wholesale Co.’s July Same-Store Sales Numbers Beat Analysts’ Estimates, Shares Rise by 0% (NASDAQ:COST)

Costco Wholesale’s (NASDAQ:COST) same store sales rose 10% in the month of July. Costco Wholesale’s stock climbed by 0% in the first full-day of trading following the report.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Argus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $876.20 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $388.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $849.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $785.52. Costco Wholesale has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.