Twin Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Twin Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,650 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delta Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Peterson Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $10,010,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 612.4% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,025 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 70,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $46,618,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $712.31. 834,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,083,885. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $315.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $730.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $659.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,942 shares of company stock worth $7,602,943 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.