Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Fluent Financial LLC

Fluent Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,291 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 162 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.66 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $807.29 and its 200-day moving average is $743.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The company has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.