Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.5% - Here's What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) fell 0.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $884.78 and last traded at $884.95. 129,662 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 1,936,524 shares. The stock had previously closed at $889.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on COST. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an "accumulate" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $889.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $833.95. The company has a market capitalization of $393.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.83, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COST. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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.