Hartline Investment Corp Has $2.52 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hartline Investment Corp lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 65.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,446 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 6,547 shares during the quarter. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $23.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $885.67. 2,619,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,544. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $812.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $745.22. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $524.63 and a 1-year high of $886.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $758.70.

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.