Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Gary Millerchip Sells 1,100 Shares

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $988.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $946.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on COST. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.