Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $729.42 and last traded at $730.54. Approximately 253,328 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,134,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $732.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on 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 seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $724.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $642.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 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 (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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.