Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded down 1.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $943.16 and last traded at $949.73. 659,306 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 1,996,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $428.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $984.05 and a 200-day moving average of $949.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.