Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Purchases 328 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,264 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $12.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $990.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,782,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,566. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.15, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day moving average is $1,000.43 and its 200 day moving average is $980.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company 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 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on COST. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. 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 research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

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.