FourThought Financial Partners LLC Sells 214 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,032 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 214 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.7% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Gordon Haskett cut 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 report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

COST traded up $11.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $743.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The company has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a PE ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $730.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $671.71.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.