Net Worth Advisory Group Sells 133 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Net Worth Advisory Group reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 855 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.8% in the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,100,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.9% in the first quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC now owns 722 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the first quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 1,873 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.7% in the first quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 600 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mainsail Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the first quarter. Mainsail Financial Group LLC now owns 3,158 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,987,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $996.78 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $996.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.41. The firm has a market cap of $442.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. 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) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

About Costco Wholesale

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.