Fiduciary Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fiduciary Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,033 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $729.18. 1,524,431 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $730.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $666.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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