Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $871.09 and last traded at $875.50, with a volume of 1813135 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $888.44.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,023.41.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $388.20 billion, a PE ratio of 48.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $918.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $952.99.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,640,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.