Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.5% – Time to Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $890.61 and last traded at $889.71. Approximately 435,873 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,938,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $885.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $394.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $889.26 and a 200-day moving average of $833.05.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during 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 period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.