Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.8%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $804.56 and last traded at $801.02. 768,719 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 1,992,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $787.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital cut their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $695.08.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $351.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.87, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.77. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $733.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $684.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

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.