Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $947.00 to $917.00. Daiwa Capital Markets currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Costco Wholesale traded as low as $851.40 and last traded at $860.56, with a volume of 4758808 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $884.47.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on COST. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Gordon Haskett decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,025.00 to $1,027.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,134.00 to $1,146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $991.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 in the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of COST. Peterson Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 6,537 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,051,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the third quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 1,152 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the third quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 4,139 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,831,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 90.9% during the 3rd quarter. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. now owns 565 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Severin Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Severin Investments LLC now owns 445 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $382.98 billion, a PE ratio of 46.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $913.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $947.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.85%.

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.