Agate Pass Investment Management LLC Sells 172 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,512 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.0% of Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI set a $1,070.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,028.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction 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 $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,008.74 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $981.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $974.53. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $447.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.23, 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 current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.