Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 67.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund 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 biggest position. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,338,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in 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 raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 5,221 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $38,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly 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 at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $5.83 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $720.50. 477,550 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,029,976. The company has a market capitalization of $319.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $668.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.35%.

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.