Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Short Interest Update

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,490,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the October 31st total of 5,990,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of COST traded up $2.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $984.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 196,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,918,091. The company has a market cap of $436.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale has a 1 year low of $597.03 and a 1 year high of $984.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a fifty day moving average of $910.39 and a 200 day moving average of $875.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.