Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Sells 8,207 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 34.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,658 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 8,207 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $990.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $1,000.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $980.96. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The stock 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.