Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $976.50 and last traded at $975.00, with a volume of 1955013 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $971.88.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $907.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $872.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $432.00 billion, a PE ratio of 58.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of COST. Arden Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $201,000. Thomasville National Bank increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.0% in the second quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 724 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $615,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.1% during the second quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 19,650 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,702,000 after acquiring an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.2% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,326 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,827,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.0% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

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.