Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,150,000 shares, a decrease of 9.8% from the September 30th total of 6,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Fermata Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.21 on Friday, hitting $878.23. 628,694 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,918,050. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $892.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $842.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $389.12 billion, a PE ratio of 52.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale has a one year low of $552.01 and a one year high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

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.