Jacobs & Co. CA Sells 312 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Jacobs & Co. CA lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,884 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 312 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.6% of Jacobs & Co. CA's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Jacobs & Co. CA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $24,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $40.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $983.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $975.63. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.58, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.