United Advisor Group LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

United Advisor Group LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,560 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. United Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were 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 owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

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

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation 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 given 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 yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale 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.