White Pine Capital LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

White Pine Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 25.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 671 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 225 shares during the quarter. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 1,002 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Country Club Bank GFN lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Country Club Bank GFN now owns 12,521 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,120,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Bridge Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bridge Advisory LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 17,635 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,963,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,595 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction 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 ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $729.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,524,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The stock has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.69, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm 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. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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.