Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.1% – Still a Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) rose 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1,012.30 and last traded at $1,017.15. Approximately 420,647 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 1,886,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,005.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $466.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $958.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $911.67.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors 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.