Grange Capital LLC Sells 76 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Grange Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 438 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Grange Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. PAX Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 59,235 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,023,000 after acquiring an additional 4,556 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,508 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 32,571 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,805,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BluePointe Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. BluePointe Capital Management LLC now owns 765 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Get Our Latest Report on Costco Wholesale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1%

COST opened at $980.91 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,003.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $982.53. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The stock 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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