Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.4% on Insider Selling

Key Points

• Costco Wholesale shares dropped 1.4% after insider selling, with EVP Teresa A. Jones selling 600 shares for a total of $595,230, reducing her position by over 20%.
• Analysts have given Costco a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with seventeen analysts rating it as a Buy and a target price estimate averaging around $1,050.
• The retailer's recent quarterly earnings showcased a net margin of 2.92% and revenue growth of 8% year-over-year, exceeding analyst expectations.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shares fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $946.40 and last traded at $944.84. 529,909 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,202,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $958.54.

Specifically, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $419.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.96. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $969.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $984.60.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,364,888,000 after buying an additional 1,377,328 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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