Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.8% Higher

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) were up 0.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $728.40 and last traded at $728.03. Approximately 247,480 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 2,018,510 shares. The stock had previously closed at $722.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $324.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $730.34 and a 200-day moving average of $670.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vicus Capital raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.2% during the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 520 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,516 shares of the retailer's stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 2,794 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,578,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 48,934 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $27,646,000 after purchasing an additional 7,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $12,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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.