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

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price dropped 0% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,050.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.75.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $423.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $932.17 and a 200 day moving average of $888.75. 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 results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the last quarter. 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.