Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.1% After Dividend Announcement

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $976.92 and last traded at $977.93. Approximately 365,865 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,000,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $976.92.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $977.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $951.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.