Leelyn Smith LLC Has $5.83 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Leelyn Smith LLC trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,359 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.0% of Leelyn Smith LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Leelyn Smith LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,788,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 17,194 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,754,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $465,000. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 228 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of COST opened at $916.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.82, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $989.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $945.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.