Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 1.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $986.75 and last traded at $975.29. Approximately 514,090 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,854,878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.02.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

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 50-day simple moving average is $954.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $907.45. The stock has a market cap of $434.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after acquiring an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,726,107,000 after buying an additional 70,561 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.