Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Has $5.64 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 67.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,550 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 17,725 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.7% of Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 20,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,692 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,338,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,948 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Field & Main Bank increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 5,221 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,446,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 58,847 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,844,000 after buying an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded down $5.83 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $720.50. 477,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,029,976. The stock has a market cap of $319.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 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 current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $668.62.

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 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 company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently 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.