Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Claudine Adamo Sells 900 Shares

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5 %

COST opened at $930.26 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $987.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $946.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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.