Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Gibson Capital LLC

Gibson Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 36.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 662 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Gibson Capital LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $626,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. AMJ Financial Wealth Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 1,002 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a 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. 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.34 on Thursday, hitting $1,000.12. The stock had a trading volume of 531,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,202. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company's 50 day moving average price is $996.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.41. The stock has a market cap of $443.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.