Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) traded up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $1,001.68 and last traded at $1,001.56. 533,302 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 2,029,062 shares. The stock had previously closed at $994.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $961.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $959.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $447.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.21, 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $8,430,000. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,522,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.