GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• GKV Capital Management significantly reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 95.3% during Q1, now holding only 500 shares valued at $473,000.
• Costco's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $4.28 EPS and $63.21 billion in revenue, reflecting an 8% year-over-year increase.
• The retailer also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with a yield of 0.5%, payable on August 15th to investors of record on August 1st.

GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 95.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 500 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 10,245 shares during the quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on 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. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This 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 sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

COST traded down $3.46 on Thursday, hitting $975.39. 1,806,960 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,216,071. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $432.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $973.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $985.76.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.