Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $923.50 and last traded at $926.80. 943,499 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,635,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $927.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $413.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50 day moving average is $946.73 and its 200 day moving average is $897.99.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hilltop National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 3,328 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 123,965 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $109,899,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 326.9% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 333 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,415 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,135,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Finally, First International Bank & Trust grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. First International Bank & Trust now owns 1,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.