Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.9%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded up 0.9% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $729.80 and last traded at $728.11. 384,261 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 2,041,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $721.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $730.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $664.86. The company has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% during the third quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,192 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,239,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 51.3% during the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,033 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 27,357 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,455,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. 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.