Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.6%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 0.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $822.00 and last traded at $820.39. Approximately 256,049 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,976,581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $815.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8 %

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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $842.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $768.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.83, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.