West Coast Financial LLC Has $2.76 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

West Coast Financial LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,916 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,010.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $448.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.35, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $992.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $978.72. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.