Northcape Wealth Management LLC Has $4.55 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,893 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 76 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.6% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,519,468,000 after purchasing an additional 24,274 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,457,964,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $3.43 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $722.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,734,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,045,451. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $668.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $320.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. 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 report on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

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.