Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 1.3% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Costco shares fell 1.3% on Monday to $998.01, trading as low as $996.63 on volume down about 24% versus the average and sitting near its 50‑day moving average of $997.12.
• Wall Street's consensus is a Moderate Buy (22 Buys, 11 Holds, 1 Sell) with a consensus target of $1,045.97, while analyst price targets range roughly from $917 to $1,175.
• Costco beat the quarter with EPS of $4.58 (vs. $4.55 est.) and revenue of $69.6B (up 9.2% YoY), raised its quarterly dividend to $1.47 (annualized $5.88, yield ~0.6%), and has a market cap of about $442.8B with a P/E of 51.9.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) traded down 1.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $996.63 and last traded at $998.01. 1,615,230 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 2,133,068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,011.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $1,115.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group set a $1,175.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $917.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore set a $1,100.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Twenty-two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,045.97.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $442.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.90, a PEG ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $997.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $948.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The retailer reported $4.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $69.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.96 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.57% and a net margin of 2.99%.Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.02 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 20.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $1.47 dividend. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 730 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,003.02, for a total value of $732,204.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,121 shares in the company, valued at $6,139,485.42. This represents a 10.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,278.0% in the first quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,726,899 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $672,690,000 after acquiring an additional 6,720,130 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $5,195,415,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 838.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,125,405 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,282,182,000 after acquiring an additional 5,472,968 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 907.1% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 1,785,080 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,539,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607,833 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,586.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,137,436 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $980,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,005 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global chain of membership-only warehouse clubs that sell a wide array of merchandise in bulk at discounted prices. The company's product mix includes groceries, fresh and frozen food, household goods, electronics, apparel, and seasonal items, augmented by its prominent private-label brand, Kirkland Signature. Costco's business model centers on annual membership fees and high-volume, low-margin sales, designed to drive repeat purchasing and strong customer loyalty among both consumers and small-business buyers.

Beyond merchandise, Costco provides a range of ancillary services that complement its warehouses, including gasoline stations, pharmacy and optical services, hearing aid centers, photo services, and travel and insurance products.

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