Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price dropped 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $947.54 and last traded at $960.48. Approximately 1,130,895 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 1,943,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $967.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $406.63 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $988.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $948.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.