Stokes Family Office LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stokes Family Office LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 51.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,193 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,366 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61.8% in the 4th quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 225.4% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 67,522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,570,000 after buying an additional 46,774 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $11.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $743.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,322,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,041,084. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $670.52. 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 Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.