Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,040 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $975.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.57 billion, a PE ratio of 55.33, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $973.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $985.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.