Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 500 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Lakeside Advisors INC. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 14,359 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 9.0% of Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Lakeside Advisors INC.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0%

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $970.33. 1,939,399 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,063,204. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. 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 has a market cap of $430.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.04, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average is $1,003.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $982.06.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. 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 0.54%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.