Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in Costco by 6.7%, holding 548,899 shares, which represents about 1.6% of their total holdings and makes it their 8th largest position.
• Costco recently reported earnings of $4.28 per share, beating estimates, with a revenue of $63.21 billion, reflecting an 8.0% year-over-year increase.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 548,899 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 39,157 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.6% of Blair William & Co. IL's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Blair William & Co. IL owned 0.12% of Costco Wholesale worth $519,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock worth $710,624,000 after acquiring an additional 343,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $280,046,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 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 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $11.74 on Tuesday, hitting $943.63. 2,459,845 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,220,393. The stock has a market capitalization of $418.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $982.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $984.78. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $805.06 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial upped 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 note on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.