RFG Advisory LLC Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

RFG Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,525 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 880 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $208,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 49.7% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,593,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the third quarter. River Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,832,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.0% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 5,001 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,825,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 989 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $848.31 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $788.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $731.70. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $519.34 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.