Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 2,069 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) (2024)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Jun 19th, 2024

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,133 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,069 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded 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 note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on COST

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $870.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $780.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $727.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $386.03 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $516.54 and a 1 year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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