Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $964.06 and last traded at $969.15. 291,782 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,924,903 shares. The stock had previously closed at $971.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market cap of $425.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.49, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $903.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $868.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 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.