Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Sells 83 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,924 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1,016.9% in the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 56,516 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,305,000 after acquiring an additional 51,456 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,948 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,266,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Day In July LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 571 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of COST traded up $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $892.38. 1,933,485 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,963,146. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.29, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $854.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $794.02. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $539.31 and a 1 year high of $918.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio 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.