Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by United Capital Management of KS Inc.

United Capital Management of KS Inc. lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,261 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.2% of United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. United Capital Management of KS Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 18,635 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,528,000 after buying an additional 4,310 shares in the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Elevatus Welath Management now owns 577 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 2,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,542,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Lakeshore Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $376,000. Finally, Laird Norton Trust Company LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Laird Norton Trust Company LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %

COST stock opened at $862.66 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $524.63 and a twelve month 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 has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $807.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $743.56.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.