Insider Selling: Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Sells 2,400 Shares of Stock

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $914.00. 1,826,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,263,383. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $405.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.19, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $937.07 and a 200-day moving average of $967.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Luminist Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by 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.