Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,947 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,730 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $49,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 70,625 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $46,618,000 after acquiring an additional 4,197 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $855,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $230,000. Guidance Capital Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 1,302 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $847,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 336.4% in the 4th quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $715.19. 1,375,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,101,598. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $730.92 and a 200-day moving average of $658.84. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $317.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.79, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.28.

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.