Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares traded down 0% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $981.00 and last traded at $992.46. 532,731 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,925,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $992.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,050.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $1,095.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $997.75.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $932.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $888.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $423.05 billion, a PE ratio of 56.07, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 33.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.25%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 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.