Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.5% - Time to Buy?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shot up 0.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $995.75 and last traded at $984.21. 634,727 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 2,017,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $979.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on 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. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $971.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $954.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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