Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Hits New 1-Year High at $899.49

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $899.49 and last traded at $897.92, with a volume of 122768 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $892.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $398.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $851.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $790.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.