Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.1%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) fell 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $714.41 and last traded at $715.09. 340,516 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 2,045,679 shares. The stock had previously closed at $722.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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 restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

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 has a 50 day moving average price of $730.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $664.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.14 billion, a PE ratio of 46.77, a PEG ratio of 4.81 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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the first quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 668 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $489,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,091,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares in the last quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 23,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,160,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,871 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,430,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TNF LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% during the first quarter. TNF LLC now owns 361 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 30 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.