Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 1.4% Higher

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price traded up 1.4% on Monday . The company traded as high as $849.59 and last traded at $849.51. 550,262 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,984,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $838.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on COST. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $368.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.48, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $841.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $764.61.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 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.