Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.5%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price dropped 0.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $843.68 and last traded at $845.47. Approximately 315,989 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,958,793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $849.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

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 business’s fifty day moving average is $801.95 and its 200-day moving average is $740.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $375.11 billion, a PE ratio of 52.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 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.