Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Investment Partners LTD.

Investment Partners LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,995 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of COST traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $729.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,524,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $666.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.