Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lessened by Hemenway Trust Co LLC

Hemenway Trust Co LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,636 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 91,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $67,203,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $227,000. Blue Square Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8,044.4% during the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the period. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 4.3 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $37.72 during trading on Thursday, reaching $846.59. 6,011,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $530.56 and a 52-week high of $896.67. The company has a market capitalization of $375.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.45, a PEG ratio of 5.82 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 simple moving average is $827.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $752.35.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $796.56.

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.