Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,488 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 963 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 3.1% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $64,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,051.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $466.62 billion, a PE ratio of 61.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $991.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $978.09.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.