Parallel Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parallel Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,376 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.9% of Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital set a $1,045.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,028.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,008.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $788.20 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $447.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $981.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $974.53.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.