Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.6% – What’s Next?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price rose 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $1,072.18 and last traded at $1,071.91. Approximately 396,051 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,892,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,065.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine equities 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,021.93.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $969.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $922.35. The firm has a market cap of $475.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bienville Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Pennington Partners & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $573,000. South Plains Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $477,000. Finally, Blue Rock Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $275,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.