Birinyi Associates Inc. Sells 3,500 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Birinyi Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 73.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,275 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.4% of Birinyi Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Birinyi Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $950.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $998.91 and a 200 day moving average of $982.67. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.