Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Trading Down 0.6% – What’s Next?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $1,031.28 and last traded at $1,030.76. 317,911 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,829,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1,036.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,027.57.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 6.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $989.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $942.33. The company has a market cap of $428.23 billion, a PE ratio of 56.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Swedbank AB grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Maia Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 418 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Prudent Investors Network Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $773,000. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,299,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.