Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is Lakeside Advisors INC.'s 3rd Largest Position

Lakeside Advisors INC. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,359 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 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 quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Clear Investment Research LLC raised 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 raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Bosun Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. NFP Retirement Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $985.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $437.20 billion, a PE ratio of 55.92, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,005.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.68. 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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This 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 valued at $9,496,950 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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