Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 33.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 588 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.7% of Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $1,014.94 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $993.68 and a 200-day moving average of $979.66.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

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.

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