Lmcg Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Lmcg Investments LLC lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,056 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,571 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report 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 research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $4.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,014.94. 1,852,907 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,054,991. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a PE ratio of 59.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $992.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $978.72.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.