Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Trimmed by Ayrshire Capital Management LLC

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,654 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 731 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 4.0% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Shira Ridge Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the first quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 1,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 252.5% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 3,617 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the first quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 5,718 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,408,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 6,554 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,199,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,816,895. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of COST opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $994.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $980.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $446.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.