Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Cvfg LLC

Cvfg LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 412 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 169 shares during the period. Cvfg LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Bosun Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $982.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $435.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.75, a PEG ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,004.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $981.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Profile

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.