Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 1.7% After Analyst Downgrade

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares fell 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as low as $931.55 and last traded at $947.94. 1,246,258 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 1,809,307 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.31.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine investment 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, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $413.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.64, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $990.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $944.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.