Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price was up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $718.95 and last traded at $716.31. Approximately 536,442 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 2,080,300 shares. The stock had previously closed at $715.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $660.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Corp MA ADV raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently 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.