Financial Advisory Partners LLC Sells 40 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Financial Advisory Partners LLC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 630 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Financial Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,055.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $988.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $977.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $468.35 billion, a PE ratio of 61.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm 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 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.