Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by KFG Wealth Management LLC

KFG Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 813 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $3.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $862.66. 814,423 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,958,381. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The stock has a market cap of $382.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $807.29 and its 200-day moving average is $743.56.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Loop Capital increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

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.