Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Sells 65 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 782 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $3,189,000. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $4,194,000. Finally, Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 914 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on COST shares. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $709.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,134,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,098,663. The company has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $659.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. 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.