Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) CEO Sells $3,351,600.00 in Stock

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $36.46 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $890.62. 3,438,222 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,066. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $990.44 and its 200 day moving average is $944.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $395.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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.