Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Richard A. Galanti Sells 1,416 Shares

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $5.75 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $893.42. 1,648,914 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,748,835. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $891.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $836.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.85 billion, a PE ratio of 53.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.