Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 3,341 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,460 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,341 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $228,000. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 981 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. S. R. Schill & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.3% in the third quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates now owns 2,593 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the third quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,229,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 215,700 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $121,862,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $11.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $743.90. 2,322,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,041,084. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $670.52. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.