Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,015 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 91 shares during the quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

COST opened at $1,051.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.62 billion, a PE ratio of 61.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $991.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $978.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company 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.