Northcape Wealth Management LLC Sells 60 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,833 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.8% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded 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. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $23.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $885.67. 2,620,714 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,559,025. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $886.94. The stock has a market cap of $392.64 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $816.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $746.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.