Kimelman & Baird LLC Sells 707 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Kimelman & Baird LLC has reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 1.1%, now holding approximately $59.50 million worth of shares, representing 5.1% of their portfolio.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 1st, reflecting an annual yield of 0.5%.
• Analyst consensus gives Costco a rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $1,050.00, and numerous analysts have increased their price targets recently.

Kimelman & Baird LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,914 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 707 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 5.1% of Kimelman & Baird LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Kimelman & Baird LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $59,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $972.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,637,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,194. The stock's 50 day moving average is $972.25 and its 200 day moving average is $986.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.14, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

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.