Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. Sells 1,416 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 46.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,654 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,416 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,014.94 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a PE ratio of 59.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $993.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $979.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.