Gary Millerchip Sells 1,100 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $9.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $938.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,544,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,822,819. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $987.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $946.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.51 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. NCP Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 29,895 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $337,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.