Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, May 6th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $696.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $809.73 on Friday. Costco Wholesale has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $816.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $359.12 billion, a PE ratio of 52.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $742.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $696.37.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th 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 boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.