Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH

North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,772 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 3,236 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 4.4% of North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Childress Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.4% during the first quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,283 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 16.5% during the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,230 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Cyr Financial Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.8% during the first quarter. Cyr Financial Inc. now owns 639 shares of the retailer's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Midwest Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 31.4% during the first quarter. Midwest Financial Group LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Finally, Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $391,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $980.29 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $1,002.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 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 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 last year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current 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 $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 presently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,547 shares of company stock worth $11,361,265 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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