Capital Investment Counsel Inc Has $47.21 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,514 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 8.3% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $47,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Lake Street Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the third quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 8,455 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,808,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the third quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $743,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Bremer Bank National Association grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the third quarter. Bremer Bank National Association now owns 7,775 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,393,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $3.30 on Monday, reaching $725.88. The company had a trading volume of 234,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,383. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $667.48. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $321.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.