Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded up 1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $920.40 and last traded at $919.11. 427,561 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 1,059,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $909.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $942.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $895.94.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during 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. 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.