Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $1,009.61 and last traded at $1,005.83, with a volume of 2745684 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $979.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $446.49 billion, a PE ratio of 59.06, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $954.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $908.28. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,708 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.