Courier Capital LLC Has $6.07 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Courier Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,281 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $0.63 on Friday, hitting $849.99. 2,061,680 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,971,478. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $796.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $736.82. The company has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 and a 52-week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.