New Hampshire Trust Sells 102 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

New Hampshire Trust lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,013 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.0% of New Hampshire Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 623,560 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $352,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,049 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 49.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 30,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,303,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 353,223 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $199,556,000 after purchasing an additional 15,953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.44 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $873.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $785.79 and its 200 day moving average is $729.10. The company has a market capitalization of $382.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.43, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.