Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,878 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 885 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $5.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $980.29. 3,250,821 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,063,545. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a PE ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1,002.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.03. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,547 shares of company stock worth $11,361,265. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on COST shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

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.