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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $993.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $979.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Cim LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.7% during the first quarter. Cim LLC now owns 24,622 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $23,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 5,926 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,605,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 30.1% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,238,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.