Private Wealth Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Private Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 38,677 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.2% of Private Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% in the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $7.32 on Friday, reaching $729.18. 1,524,431 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $666.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 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 data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

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.