Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) were up 1.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $968.46 and last traded at $970.01. Approximately 404,507 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 1,941,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $954.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $988.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $947.35. The company has a market cap of $429.02 billion, a PE ratio of 56.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is 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.