Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 1.4% – Time to Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $895.66 and last traded at $896.61. Approximately 448,499 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 1,951,950 shares. The stock had previously closed at $909.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $396.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.46, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $879.92 and its 200 day moving average is $825.10.

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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the 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 approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after buying an additional 485,051 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.