Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Paragon Advisors LLC

Paragon Advisors LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,156 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Paragon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Washburn Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Washburn Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,816,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $994.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $980.11. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 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 business posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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.