Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.3% – Time to Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $949.69 and last traded at $960.89. 3,240,929 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 68% from the average session volume of 1,934,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $905.10 and a 200-day moving average of $869.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $426.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.