L.M. Kohn & Company Reduces Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

L.M. Kohn & Company lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,620 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 849 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 3.6% of L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. L.M. Kohn & Company’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,547 shares of company stock worth $11,361,265 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $980.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,002.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $981.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.