Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Accel Wealth Management

Accel Wealth Management lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 676 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

COST opened at $1,055.59 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $988.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $977.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $468.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. 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 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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.