Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares traded down 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $855.00 and last traded at $856.17. 255,463 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,953,717 shares. The stock had previously closed at $859.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $380.31 billion, a PE ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $807.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $743.56.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. KPP Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $398,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,521 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $277,690,000 after acquiring an additional 31,633 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 200,761 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $113,415,000 after purchasing an additional 13,883 shares in the last quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 16,589 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,372,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in 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.