Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Sells 452 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 54.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 383 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 452 shares during the quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $14.87 on Monday, hitting $1,055.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,410,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,555. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $468.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.91, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $983.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $975.99.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

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.