Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.5% Higher - Time to Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $995.75 and last traded at $984.21. 634,727 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 2,017,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $979.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $433.55 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $966.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $955.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 20.1% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,088,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Fulcrum Equity Management boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.