Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Raised by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,080 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $656,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST traded down $7.90 on Wednesday, hitting $763.41. 1,511,411 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,030,519. 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 current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $338.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $731.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $675.97.

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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.