Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price fell 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $923.50 and last traded at $926.80. 943,499 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 1,635,593 shares. The stock had previously closed at $927.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $415.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $947.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $898.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.25%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after purchasing an additional 338,489 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 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.