Costco Wholesale Co. (COST:NSD) experienced a decrease of 1.8% in shares during the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC. The company’s holdings in the retail giant were valued at $64,242,000 after selling 2,543 Costco stock shares.
Other institutional investors such as Cowa LLC, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC, Newfound Research LLC, Focused Wealth Management Inc, and LSV Asset Management also bought and sold shares of the company. A consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and a consensus price target of $546.08 has been given by analysts for Costco stock.
Costco Stock Price Analysis:
The shares of Costco Wholesale traded at $489.61, up $0.32, with a trading volume of 366,600 shares during the last trading day. The company’s market cap was $217.13 billion, with a PE ratio of 35.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66, and a beta of 0.79.
The business had a 50-day moving average price of $493.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $491.47. Its quick ratio was 0.56, and the current ratio was 1.06, while the debt-to-equity ratio was 0.29.
Quarterly Earnings Review:
In the previous quarter, Costco Wholesale reported earnings of $3.30 per share, which was $0.10 higher than the consensus estimate of $3.20. The company had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 28.66%.
Its revenue for the quarter was $55.27 billion, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.61 billion. Equities analysts expect the company to post earnings per share of $14.38 for the current year.
Costco Stock Dividend:
On February 17, 2022, Costco Wholesale declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, which was paid on February 17th to investors of record on February 3rd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The company’s dividend payout ratio is 26.45%.
Insider Transactions:
Moreover, Costco Wholesale’s insider EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock for $1,259,225.00 on January 27th. The CFO Richard A. Galanti also sold 2,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.95, totaling $1,375,691.85. After the completion of the sale, the CFO now owns 20,081 shares in the company, worth $10,217,761.95.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, while there were some institutional investors who sold off some of their shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter of 2022, the company still maintains a positive outlook among analysts who expect strong growth for Costco stock.
