Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lowered by Nwam LLC

Nwam LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,746 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 584 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.8% of Nwam LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Nwam LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $20,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of 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, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $2.96 on Friday, reaching $950.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,110,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,122. The business's 50 day moving average is $998.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $982.67. The company has a market cap of $421.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.97. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio 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.