Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI

Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,969 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,779 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 4.1% of Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $22,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $6.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $975.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,271,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,076,798. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1,005.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.68.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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.