Eads & Heald Wealth Management Has $3.55 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,373 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.7% of Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 172.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

COST traded down $13.03 during trading on Monday, reaching $718.28. 1,795,998 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,121,194. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.56 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $730.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $656.72.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,182 shares of company stock valued at $9,809,558. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale 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.