Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Chapman Investment Management LLC

Chapman Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,324 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 8.8% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,313 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,085 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,957,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 2,016 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,016,000. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,859,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $796.56.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 4.3 %

COST traded down $37.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $846.59. The stock had a trading volume of 6,011,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $825.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $751.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.