Rockland Trust Co. Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rockland Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 146 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 5,001 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 989 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $848.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $519.34 and a one year high of $873.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $788.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $731.70.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.