Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,067 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 66 shares during the period. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $849.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $376.68 billion, a PE ratio of 52.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $521.26 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $788.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $732.58.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.96.

About Costco Wholesale

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.