Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC Sells 21 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 348 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 21 shares during the quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of COST opened at $977.72 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $1,002.19 and its 200-day moving average is $981.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $433.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. The business 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 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 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.