ICW Investment Advisors LLC Sells 229 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,601 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.1% of ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James boosted their price target 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $909.26 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $403.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.39, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $987.55 and a 200-day moving average of $945.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.