Investors Research Corp Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Investors Research Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 28 shares during the quarter. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $715.97 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $317.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $730.92 and a 200 day moving average of $658.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly 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 period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side 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 given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.