New Capital Management LP Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

New Capital Management LP cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 91.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 884 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 10,090 shares during the period. New Capital Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $862.44 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $516.54 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $785.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $729.10. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $382.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.96.

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.