Investment House LLC Has $43.88 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Investment House LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,483 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 3.1% of Investment House LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $43,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,224 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Choreo LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,122 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,715 shares during the period. McAdam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $354,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 9,831 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,489,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $6.44 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $722.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 651,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,038,129. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $730.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $667.48. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $320.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.22, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.