Quantum Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Quantum Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 25.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 969 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 330 shares during the quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $0.41 on Wednesday, hitting $1,056.00. 582,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,046,464. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $988.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $977.58. The firm has a market cap of $468.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.01, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.