Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 0.2% - Still a Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shares shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1,062.74 and last traded at $1,057.94. 321,581 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,872,893 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,056.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $909.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average price is $974.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $928.97.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.