Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,432 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,002 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.9% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $24,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $710,624,000 after purchasing an additional 343,390 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $280,046,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on 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. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $955.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $423.68 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $982.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $984.78. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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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