Rempart Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rempart Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,995 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 4,265 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 6.6% of Rempart Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Rempart Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $32,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $40.04 on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. The firm has a market capitalization of $465.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $983.85 and a 200-day moving average of $975.99.

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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.