Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were down 1.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $896.84 and last traded at $904.44. Approximately 614,085 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 1,808,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $916.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.89, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $989.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $945.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 55,041 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $48,795,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA now owns 3,752 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.