Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.8% – Time to Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1,034.00 and last traded at $1,030.02. Approximately 451,726 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,895,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,021.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $463.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $959.83 and a 200 day moving average of $912.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,820,193,000 after purchasing an additional 43,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.