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

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares shot up 0.1% during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $976.92 and last traded at $977.93. 365,865 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session 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 issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

The company has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $977.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $951.51.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Bank lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 2,551 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 187.5% in the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 11,500 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after buying an additional 7,500 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% in the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,116,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 504 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. 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.