Capital Wealth Planning LLC Sells 539 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital Wealth Planning LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 49.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 549 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 539 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the first quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $3.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $842.90. 3,288,384 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,835,039. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $829.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $754.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $373.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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