Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.4% - Time to Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $962.88 and last traded at $971.32. 333,590 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,025,265 shares. The stock had previously closed at $975.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $966.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $956.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.55 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction 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 approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.