Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.7% on Insider Selling

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.7% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $926.00 and last traded at $932.24. 513,400 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 1,820,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $938.75.

Specifically, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $413.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.74, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $988.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $945.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $1,085,000. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,223,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Nestegg Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $481,000. 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.