Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.5% on Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $890.79 and last traded at $894.48. 397,328 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,931,491 shares. The stock had previously closed at $899.17.

Specifically, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $891.76 and a 200-day moving average of $838.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $394.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 183 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 12,551 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,127,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $261,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 86.8% during the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunburst Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.5% during the third quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. 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.