Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 1.4% – What’s Next?

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price was up 1.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $941.17 and last traded at $940.74. Approximately 2,531,945 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 2,253,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $928.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,064.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $416.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $939.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $969.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corps Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,071 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,905,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,327,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the first quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.