Spirepoint Private Client LLC Has $4.68 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Spirepoint Private Client LLC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 59.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,952 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 7,341 shares during the quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $236,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock worth $9,654,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $15.38 on Wednesday, reaching $986.54. 1,824,165 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,065,313. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $1,003.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $981.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.96, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale 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.