Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.3%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price fell 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $901.58 and last traded at $906.24. 257,109 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,956,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $908.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $391.94 billion, a PE ratio of 55.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $851.73 and its 200-day moving average is $790.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock valued at $4,249,526. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.