Yousif Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 58,705 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.6% of Yousif Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 6,554 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,199,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,093,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,605,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,704 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,261,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $7,816,895 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $994.50 and a 200 day moving average of $980.11. The company has a market cap of $446.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS 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. 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. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.