Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 0.3%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) traded up 0.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $872.63 and last traded at $870.34. 380,094 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 1,957,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $867.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $845.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $385.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $777.18 and its 200 day moving average is $725.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. SRN Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,171 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,323,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $201,000. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the first quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,406 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. IMS Capital Management increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the first quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,542 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the first quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,378,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.