Toth Financial Advisory Corp Sells 98 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,714 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 98 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of COST opened at $1,014.94 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $993.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $979.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.