Summit Global Investments Sells 1,328 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Summit Global Investments decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,914 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,328 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $1,494,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI set a $1,070.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,028.46.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,008.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $447.56 billion, a PE ratio of 59.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $981.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $974.53. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $788.20 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.