Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Russell Miller Sells 3,381 Shares

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Russell Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $916.77 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $953.95 and its 200 day moving average is $971.03. The company has a market cap of $406.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.34, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,612,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,039,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 5,776 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,346,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 140.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,541 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.3% in the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,120 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,739,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

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.