Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Cut by Capital & Planning LLC

Capital & Planning LLC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,427 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 329 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $241,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 87,990 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $83,219,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Viewpoint Investment Partners Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,645,000. Finally, Retirement Solution LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Solution LLC now owns 960 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related 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 owned 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were 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 owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $969.68 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $970.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $985.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $430.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

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.

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