Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Sells 586 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,365 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 586 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after buying an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $1.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $838.13. 1,938,636 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,994,377. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $371.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $837.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $759.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $530.56 and a 52-week high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.