Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Decreases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,974 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,216 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.7% of Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $41,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $845.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $374.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $801.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $740.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

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.