Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price traded down 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $937.00 and last traded at $938.04. 547,276 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,946,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $954.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $425.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.30, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $937.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $892.56.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 33.19% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,817 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,454,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. IMS Capital Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 3,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,383,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 4,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,575,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. FFG Partners LLC now owns 23,814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,112,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.