Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is Paragon Capital Management LLC's 3rd Largest Position

Paragon Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,723 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 772 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 10.1% of Paragon Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Paragon Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank lifted 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 purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $2.53 during trading on Monday, reaching $948.42. 1,033,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,063,635. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $420.61 billion, a PE ratio of 53.86, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $998.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $983.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.