Central Valley Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Central Valley Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 35.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,374 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,276 shares during the quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in 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 during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $12.50 on Friday, hitting $990.21. 1,782,964 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,061,594. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $998.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.70. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a PE ratio of 58.15, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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 (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.