Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,524 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.0% of Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Game Plan Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $0.22 on Monday, hitting $848.53. 554,119 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,973,309. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $521.26 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $788.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $732.58. 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 has a market cap of $376.18 billion, a PE ratio of 52.34, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 (DPR) is 28.75%.

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.