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

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 1.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1,012.30 and last traded at $1,017.15. Approximately 420,647 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,886,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,005.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $958.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $911.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,896,000. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,312 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $80,063,000 after buying an additional 5,799 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.7% during the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 8,159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,233,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC now owns 418 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 27 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.