Biechele Royce Advisors Sells 69 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Biechele Royce Advisors trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 405 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,313 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,002,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,085 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 2,016 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $81,016,000. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $2,859,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on COST shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $796.56.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $37.72 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $846.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,011,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $825.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $751.69. The company has a market capitalization of $375.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 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, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale 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.