1900 Wealth Management LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

1900 Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 783 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Garrison Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 83.6% during the 4th quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 740 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 115.0% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 75,049 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $49,538,000 after buying an additional 40,144 shares during the period. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 8,217 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,424,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 728 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Life Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST traded up $6.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $721.66. The company had a trading volume of 359,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,188. 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 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $662.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.