Everett Harris & Co. CA Trims Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Everett Harris & Co. CA lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 873,937 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 8.3% of Everett Harris & Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $576,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 79.6% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,396.0% during the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 14,960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after buying an additional 13,960 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, 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 accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Raymond James raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $732.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,245,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,796. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $723.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $641.98. The company has a market cap of $324.68 billion, a PE ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

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.