Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC Sells 495 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,228 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 495 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 16.2% of Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,915,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $870.75 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $516.54 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $386.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $783.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $728.16.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.