Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,536 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 32 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 421 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 18,427 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,500,000 after purchasing an additional 3,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 18,202 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,335,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded up $11.67 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $857.34. 779,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,962,710. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $801.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $740.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $380.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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 transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial raised 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. 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

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.