Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.9% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shot up 0.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $959.38 and last traded at $958.82. 939,029 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 1,947,788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $949.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on COST. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock 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 company has a market cap of $424.43 billion, a PE ratio of 56.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $940.03 and its 200 day moving average is $893.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.