Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 628 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,168 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 628 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.5% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $20,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Mizuho began 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $12.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $990.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,782,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,253. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,000.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $980.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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.