Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Trimmed by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,219 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 4,083 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $72,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Peninsula Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the retailer's stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $986.27 on Monday. 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 $437.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.94, a P/E/G ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.97. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $1,005.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.38.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.