Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.7% on Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price fell 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $704.22 and last traded at $706.49. 494,717 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,075,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $711.25.

Specifically, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $730.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $661.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 34,688 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,676,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99.0% in the first quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 1,869 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,369,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 604 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. GenTrust LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. GenTrust LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 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.