Norris Perne & French LLP MI Has $5.42 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 79.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,399 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 29,398 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $849.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,321. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $801.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $739.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $524.63 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $756.85.

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.