Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Decreased by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,581 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $80,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grandview Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,711,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.8% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,131 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the first quarter. Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,693 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,867,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10.1% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 59,974 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,721,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.6% in the first quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $974.90 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $432.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1,002.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.12.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation 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 given a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.