Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.2%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $884.51 and last traded at $878.88. Approximately 181,670 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 1,960,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $877.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $851.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $788.53. The firm has a market cap of $389.78 billion, a PE ratio of 54.47, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aldebaran Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,000. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $446,000. Ted Buchan & Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $2,677,000. IMS Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.1% in the second quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,794 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,324,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 316,993 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $269,441,000 after acquiring an additional 3,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.