Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc Has $2.21 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,350 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 33 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.7% of Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 17,338 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,444,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 8,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,784,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,804 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $267,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s 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 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. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded down $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $722.22. The stock had a trading volume of 1,571,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,848. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $730.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $669.72. The firm has a market cap of $320.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.