Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.2% After Dividend Announcement

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price traded up 0.2% on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $720.55 and last traded at $720.01. 446,087 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,114,439 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.59.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $654.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,182 shares of company stock valued at $9,809,558 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Rice Partnership LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. 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.