Claudine Adamo Sells 900 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.75 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.51 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $987.96 and its 200-day moving average is $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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,223,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Nestegg Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $936,000. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $481,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,287,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.