Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,471 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 31 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,701,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 34,702 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,116,000 after acquiring an additional 4,478 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. now owns 1,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,102,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 4,728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $12.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $768.82. The stock had a trading volume of 902,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,653. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $730.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $674.43. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $340.97 billion, a PE ratio of 50.25, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

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.