Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 1.1% Following Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded down 1.1% on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $879.50 and last traded at $884.41. 487,604 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 1,944,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $894.61.

Specifically, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $393.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $887.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $830.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.