Buffington Mohr McNeal Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Buffington Mohr McNeal decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,105 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 971 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 4.8% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,079 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 580 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First American Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.3% during the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 1,654 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.14 on Tuesday, reaching $715.14. 577,352 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,099,702. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $657.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $317.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16, a PEG ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change 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 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

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.