Foster & Motley Inc. Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 508 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Steph & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $723.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.05 billion, a PE ratio of 47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $664.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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. 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.