Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price fell 0.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $880.32 and last traded at $883.51. 306,092 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,919,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $886.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $389.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.81, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $892.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $842.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. 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 prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC now owns 51,817 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,963,000 after purchasing an additional 11,490 shares in the last quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $626,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,018,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.