Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 165,611 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,149 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 2.0% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $156,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,547 shares of company stock valued at $13,396,790 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $967.68 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,002.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $982.43. The company has a market capitalization of $429.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.89, a PEG ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.