Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Director Susan L. Decker Sells 620 Shares

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $14.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $877.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,921,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,293. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $847.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $780.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company 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%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the second quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.