Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 518 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Umpqua Bank increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $241,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $63,200,000 after purchasing an additional 16,967 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $3.75 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $982.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,764,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,076,423. The company has a market cap of $435.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.71, a PEG ratio of 6.17 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 business's 50-day moving average is $1,005.36 and its 200 day moving average is $981.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average 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.