Novare Capital Management LLC Has $2.33 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Novare Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,462 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miramar Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 895 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $820,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $986.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $437.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,005.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.