Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by WoodTrust Financial Corp

WoodTrust Financial Corp lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,028 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 569 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.5% of WoodTrust Financial Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.7% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,697 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,372,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Opinicus Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the first quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the first quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,313 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,486,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the first quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,352,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,130 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $849.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $801.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $739.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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