Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 2.5% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price traded down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $1,017.36 and last traded at $1,025.64. 854,486 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 2,046,705 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,051.69.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

The company has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $993.68 and its 200 day moving average is $979.31.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $48,000. Cim LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Cim LLC now owns 24,622 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $23,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,926 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,605,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is 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.