Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.8% – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares fell 1.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $1,054.33 and last traded at $1,052.13. 655,760 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 1,876,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,071.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $459.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $973.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $928.24.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,504,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Baer Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $1,256,000. Griffith & Werner Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $1,975,000. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 350 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $515,000. 68.48% of the stock is 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.