Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares dropped 0.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $1,068.01 and last traded at $1,072.63. Approximately 398,902 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,883,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,076.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,040.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $475.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $969.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $922.35.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.