Hemington Wealth Management Sells 83 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hemington Wealth Management decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,102 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Square Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $218,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8,044.4% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the first quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,037 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Finally, WBI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $1,389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 4.3 %

NASDAQ:COST traded down $37.72 on Thursday, reaching $846.59. 6,011,043 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. 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’s 50 day moving average is $825.62 and its 200-day moving average is $751.69. 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $796.56.

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.