Buckhead Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Buckhead Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,833 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. RB Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 17,338 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,444,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 8,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,784,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 44.2% in the 4th quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,804 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,851,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $0.68 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $722.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,571,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,848. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $730.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $669.72. The company has a market capitalization of $320.30 billion, a PE ratio of 47.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction 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 $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.