Trust Point Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Trust Point Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 28.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,008 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 806 shares during the quarter. Trust Point Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.2%

COST opened at $990.21 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,000.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $981.10. The firm has a market cap of $439.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.