Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,083 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 73,482 shares of the retailer's stock worth $69,498,000 after acquiring an additional 5,754 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Mason & Associates Inc raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the first quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 740 shares of the retailer's stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.2% during the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the first quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,704,000 after buying an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $5.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $980.29. 3,144,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,069,776. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,002.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.60, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

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.