Corundum Group Inc. Decreases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Corundum Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,449 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Corundum Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SMI Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,804,000. Clarity Financial LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 25,882 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,962,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 605 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Aspiriant LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $857.79. The company had a trading volume of 97,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,338. The company has a market capitalization of $380.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $524.63 and a 12-month high of $873.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $793.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $735.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio 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.