Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.1%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price was up 0.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $734.70 and last traded at $731.85. Approximately 262,300 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,163,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $730.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $324.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.88, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $723.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $641.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.