Investment House LLC Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Investment House LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,118 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 3.2% of Investment House LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $59,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $898.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $989.21 and a 200-day moving average of $945.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $398.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.73, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

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.