Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.

Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,139 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 22 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,095,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $935.48 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $992.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $983.84. The company has a market cap of $414.86 billion, a PE ratio of 53.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Corporate 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.