EWG Elevate Inc. Sells 29 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

EWG Elevate Inc. decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 767 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 29 shares during the quarter. EWG Elevate Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. CNB Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,928 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 484 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 1,608 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 563 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management now owns 2,511 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.03% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $487.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,959,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,241. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $492.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $492.19. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $406.51 and a fifty-two week high of $612.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The retailer reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.58% and a return on equity of 28.66%. The firm had revenue of $55.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.36 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 3rd were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total value of $1,259,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 40,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,592,861.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $483.32, for a total transaction of $999,505.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 25,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,252,162. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.69, for a total transaction of $1,259,225.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,592,861.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,068 shares of company stock valued at $2,992,156. 0.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $525.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $555.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.16.

Costco Wholesale Profile

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Costco Wholesale Corp. engages in the operation of membership warehouses through wholly owned subsidiaries. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Canada, and Other International Operations. The company was founded by James D. Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman in 1983 and is headquartered in Issaquah, WA.