Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 1.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $774.50 and last traded at $774.09. Approximately 465,427 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 2,012,626 shares. The stock had previously closed at $763.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.0 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $731.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $676.58. The firm has a market cap of $345.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.95, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 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.