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

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price rose 0.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $940.76 and last traded at $937.44. Approximately 384,957 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,818,456 shares. The stock had previously closed at $929.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $988.07 and a 200-day moving average of $946.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,085,000. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $1,223,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Nestegg Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $936,000. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $481,000. 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.