Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 0.3% on Friday . The company traded as high as $883.22 and last traded at $878.30. Approximately 343,883 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 1,954,911 shares. The stock had previously closed at $875.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $874.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $820.24. 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 market capitalization of $391.41 billion, a PE ratio of 54.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.