Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC Sells 436 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,584 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 436 shares during the period. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Umpqua Bank lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $241,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer's stock worth $63,200,000 after buying an additional 16,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.75 on Wednesday, hitting $982.09. 2,911,606 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,079,819. The stock has a market capitalization of $435.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.71, a P/E/G ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.97. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $1,005.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $981.68.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.