Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Hits New 1-Year High at $788.12

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $788.12 and last traded at $788.12, with a volume of 4068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $787.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $343.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $732.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $680.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 59,230 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $43,394,000 after buying an additional 9,874 shares during the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $2,520,000. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.1% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 21,160 shares of the retailer's stock worth $15,502,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 2,695 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.