Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Sells 964 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,797 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 964 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,002 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $918,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.93 on Thursday, hitting $1,002.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,717,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,711. The firm has a market cap of $444.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $996.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $980.41. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.