Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. Has $7.77 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,763 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.6% of Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 value 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 approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Tigress Financial lifted their target price 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. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $716.63. 201,680 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,084,806. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $730.92 and a 200 day moving average of $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.