Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Owen LaRue LLC

Owen LaRue LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 787 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Owen LaRue LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.1% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 76.8% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $978.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $434.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $715.32 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $964.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $956.90.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 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 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.36%.

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.