Horan Capital Advisors LLC. Sells 67 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 743 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 67 shares during the period. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.7 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $23.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $885.67. 2,620,714 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,559,025. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 and a 52-week high of $886.94. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $816.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $746.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

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.