Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.7% After Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares fell 0.7% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $704.22 and last traded at $706.49. 494,717 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,075,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $711.25.

Specifically, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $730.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $659.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.11, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, First National Corp MA ADV increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 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.