Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC Has $3.78 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,727 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.2% of Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $7.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $729.18. 1,524,431 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The stock has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $666.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.