Spirit of America Management Corp NY Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Spirit of America Management Corp NY lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,756 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.3% of Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proathlete Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $121,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 1,828 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,590 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV now owns 2,489 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,354,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,607 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,761,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% 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 valued at $10,825,205 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $974.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $432.35 billion, a PE ratio of 55.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,002.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.11.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.