Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,005 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,760 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $70,557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 8,182 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,497,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kane Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $2,323,000. Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,378 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,760,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 6,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $5,349,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of COST opened at $979.32 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $981.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $950.46. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $434.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. Company 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.