Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Cut by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 101,021 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.9% of Sapient Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $95,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ COST opened at $996.78 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $996.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.41. The stock has a market cap of $442.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. 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 revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.