Herold Advisors Inc. Has $995,000 Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Herold Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,507 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

COST opened at $729.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $730.41 and a 200 day moving average of $666.04. The company has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last three months. 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.