Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 138 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,228 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 138 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at $9,327,041.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $2.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $817.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,441,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,059,285. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $841.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $766.74. 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 company has a market capitalization of $362.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.78.

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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.