Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Up 3%

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares shot up 3% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $826.58 and last traded at $826.24. 518,634 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,988,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $801.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $806.42.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $362.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $843.43 and a 200 day moving average of $773.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 187,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $159,048,000 after buying an additional 7,533 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the second quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,418 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Chris Bulman Inc bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,543,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Umpqua Bank boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the second quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,982 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,385,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in 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.