Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.3%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) shares were down 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $766.81 and last traded at $769.33. Approximately 437,889 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 2,017,865 shares. The stock had previously closed at $771.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $731.22 and a 200-day moving average of $675.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 12,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. 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 value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after buying an additional 132,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. 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.