Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is Violich Capital Management Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

Violich Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,580 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,932 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 6.7% of Violich Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Violich Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $49,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. Umpqua Bank raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. 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. Morgan Stanley raised 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 research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $980.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,003.09 and its 200-day moving average is $982.53. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.64, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.