Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,900 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 18,884 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,860,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 374.6% during the first quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 11,415 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,796,000 after acquiring an additional 9,010 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,833 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.1% during the first quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc now owns 597 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

COST stock opened at $943.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $966.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $980.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.97.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

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.