Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 883,977 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 311 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Rhumbline Advisers' holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.20% of Costco Wholesale worth $836,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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 upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,056.92. 537,279 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,046,319. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $468.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.06, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $988.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $977.58.

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, 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 analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

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.