Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Still a Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares were up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $985.06 and last traded at $984.00. Approximately 312,683 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,918,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $982.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $439.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $910.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $875.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 476 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC now owns 59,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $52,685,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 174.5% in the 2nd quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 851 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 23,849 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,272,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in 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.