Insider Selling: Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Sells $1,266,866.88 in Stock

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $891.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $891.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $839.41. The company has a market cap of $394.87 billion, a PE ratio of 53.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $894.57.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.