Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) shares fell 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $937.00 and last traded at $938.04. 547,276 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,946,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $954.07.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,011.74.
Costco Wholesale Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $421.66 billion, a PE ratio of 55.78, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $934.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $891.00.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business 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 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.
Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale
In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after acquiring an additional 324,973 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.