Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were down 1.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $874.00 and last traded at $890.25. Approximately 1,443,490 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 1,958,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $901.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Melius Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.9 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $869.72 and a 200 day moving average of $814.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 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 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction 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 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors 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.