Collective Family Office LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Collective Family Office LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 752 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Collective Family Office LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,028.46.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,013.14 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $788.20 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $449.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $979.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $974.01.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.