Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Update

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,360,000 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the March 15th total of 6,760,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

COST opened at $715.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.23. Costco Wholesale has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $317.19 billion, a PE ratio of 46.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,942 shares of company stock valued at $7,602,943. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.