Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) dropped 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $949.69 and last traded at $960.89. Approximately 3,240,929 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,934,416 shares. The stock had previously closed at $964.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $902.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $867.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $22,368,000 after acquiring an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5,552.6% during the third quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC now owns 18,258 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,186,000 after purchasing an additional 17,935 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 214.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,459 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,272,000 after buying an additional 7,135 shares in the last quarter. Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $384,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.3% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.