Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Curtis Advisory Group LLC

Curtis Advisory Group LLC cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Curtis Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $23.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $885.67. 2,619,974 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,963,544. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $524.63 and a twelve month high of $886.94. The firm has a market cap of $392.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $812.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $745.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.