Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares traded down 1.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $896.84 and last traded at $904.44. 614,085 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 1,808,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $916.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $401.31 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $988.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $944.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $481,000. DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,287,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,911,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 137,322 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $125,825,000 after purchasing an additional 14,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.