Oakworth Capital Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,615 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLCM Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $855,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $230,000. Guidance Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 336.4% during the 4th quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 3,483 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

COST stock traded down $2.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $713.83. 789,888 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,093,349. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $730.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $658.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.