Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) were down 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $833.21 and last traded at $839.49. Approximately 441,488 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,980,776 shares. The stock had previously closed at $852.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 2.5 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $840.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $764.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $368.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.01, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.