Martel Wealth Advisors Inc Sells 83 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Martel Wealth Advisors Inc lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 27.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 224 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Martel Wealth Advisors Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in 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. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $444.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $998.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $980.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 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 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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.