McLean Asset Management Corp Trims Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

McLean Asset Management Corp decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 968 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19 shares during the quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $848.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $788.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $730.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $519.34 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The stock has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a PE ratio of 52.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on COST shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.