Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.8% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $871.08 and last traded at $871.78. 241,095 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 1,917,026 shares. The stock had previously closed at $879.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $892.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $842.70. The company has a market capitalization of $386.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction 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 approximately $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,424,000. Finally, WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 328.4% during the third quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 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.

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