Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 3%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $826.58 and last traded at $826.24. Approximately 518,634 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 1,988,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $801.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $821.62.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $372.15 billion, a PE ratio of 51.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $843.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $774.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.