First Merchants Corp Has $16.51 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

First Merchants Corp lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,461 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,598 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 789 shares of the retailer's stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,763 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 501 shares of the retailer's stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 286 shares of the retailer's stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 2,882 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2%

COST stock opened at $985.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $436.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $1,003.90 and a 200-day moving average of $981.20.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

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.

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