Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) EVP William Richard Wilcox Sells 2,400 Shares

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $914.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $936.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $967.41. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $405.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.19, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 635.7% during the 2nd quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC now owns 2,553 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hurley Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 120.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hurley Capital LLC now owns 33 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.