Navalign LLC Sells 15 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Navalign LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 742 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $848.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $521.26 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $790.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $734.25. The stock has a market cap of $376.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.55, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. 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. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company 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.