Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price rose 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $722.50 and last traded at $721.04. Approximately 330,074 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,096,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $718.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $730.82 and its 200-day moving average is $657.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the first quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,986 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,188,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 29.3% in the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the period. Finally, Asio Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 745 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.