Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 2% - Here's Why

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shares rose 2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $928.15 and last traded at $927.05. Approximately 570,429 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 1,817,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $909.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $987.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $946.00. The company has a market cap of $417.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.24, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) 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). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently 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.