Field & Main Bank Sells 218 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Field & Main Bank lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,616 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.5% of Field & Main Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Field & Main Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,366,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $241,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $986.54 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $437.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,004.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $981.29. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.