Northeast Financial Group Inc. Sells 823 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northeast Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 65.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 823 shares during the period. Northeast Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aspiriant LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.0% in the first quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $336,000. Bowman & Co S.C. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 36.4% in the 1st quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,418,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $856.84 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $379.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $522.10 and a twelve month high of $873.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $793.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $735.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.