Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.4% Higher – Should You Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded up 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $931.61 and last traded at $929.73. 471,924 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,823,339 shares. The stock had previously closed at $926.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine 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, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $987.58 and its 200-day moving average is $945.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $410.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 760 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,690,138,000 after buying an additional 78,590 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,149 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,792,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 32,858 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,114,000 after acquiring an additional 10,054 shares during 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.