Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,109 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 3.1% of Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer's stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $2.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $953.91. The company had a trading volume of 2,270,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,066,804. The company has a market capitalization of $423.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1,001.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $982.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Costco Wholesale Company 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.