Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Private Wealth Partners LLC

Private Wealth Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,781 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 312 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.6% of Private Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Private Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $31,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,547 shares of company stock worth $11,361,265. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $5.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $980.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,250,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,545. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,002.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $981.03. 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 market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a PE ratio of 55.60, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

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.