Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $976.50 and last traded at $975.00, with a volume of 1955013 shares. The stock had previously closed at $971.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $439.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.80, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $912.04 and a 200 day moving average of $876.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.