Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares dropped 0% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $981.00 and last traded at $992.46. Approximately 532,731 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,925,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $992.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $929.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $887.00. The company has a market cap of $435.63 billion, a PE ratio of 58.28, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,575,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. FFG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,112,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $9,539,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 3,954 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.