C2C Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

C2C Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 329 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the quarter. C2C Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,380,648,000 after acquiring an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after acquiring an additional 43,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,657,095,000 after purchasing an additional 91,649 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $929.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $988.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $946.54. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.