Martin Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Martin Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 387 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,820,193,000 after buying an additional 43,414 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,657,095,000 after acquiring an additional 91,649 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

COST stock opened at $954.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $988.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $947.35. The stock has a market cap of $423.45 billion, a PE ratio of 56.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 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.