Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) were up 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $956.55 and last traded at $953.45. Approximately 559,702 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,765,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $943.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $950.56 and a 200-day moving average of $903.04. The company has a market cap of $418.22 billion, a PE ratio of 55.32, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.