Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $971.04 and last traded at $970.56, with a volume of 87111 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $955.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $900.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $863.38. The firm has a market cap of $427.51 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 639 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 241,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $177,036,000 after buying an additional 10,159 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 656.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 101,028 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $74,015,000 after buying an additional 87,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 128.6% during the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.