Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were down 1.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $916.50 and last traded at $917.48. Approximately 319,941 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 1,921,229 shares. The stock had previously closed at $930.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $900.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $863.38. The company has a market capitalization of $424.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. 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.