Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $751.09 and last traded at $748.89. 391,007 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,021,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $743.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $730.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $673.08. 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 $335.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.98, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after acquiring an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,336,198,000 after acquiring an additional 132,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 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.