Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp Sells 87 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,006 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 172.6% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,942 shares of company stock valued at $7,602,943. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $711.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,735,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,096,731. The company has a fifty day moving average of $730.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $659.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $315.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

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.