Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Russell Miller Sells 3,381 Shares

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Russell Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of COST stock opened at $917.34 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $954.29 and a 200-day moving average of $971.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $406.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.38, a PEG ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corps Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the first quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 866 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farrell Financial LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the first quarter. Farrell Financial LLC now owns 522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

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.