Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Lessened by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,960 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,697 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.3% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $88,865,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,004.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1,003.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $445.47 billion, a PE ratio of 56.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

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.

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