Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Fiduciary Alliance LLC

Fiduciary Alliance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,147 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 217 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty 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 a consensus price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $849.99 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $801.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $740.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.