Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,251 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 640 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Breakwater Capital Group purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Capital Insight Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 21,846 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,420,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 116.2% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $15.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $816.88. The stock had a trading volume of 2,475,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,001,582. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $843.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $773.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $362.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $806.42.

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.