Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,232 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.5% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Opinicus Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,313 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,486,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,130 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.5% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 1,722 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. 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 report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $849.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $801.95 and a 200-day moving average of $739.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect 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 given 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 payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.