Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading 0.5% Higher – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report)’s share price traded up 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $901.62 and last traded at $898.13. 393,569 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,929,804 shares. The stock had previously closed at $893.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $397.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.20, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $891.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $837.33.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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