Stokes Family Office LLC Has $1.45 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stokes Family Office LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,193 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,366 shares during the quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 225.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 67,522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $44,570,000 after acquiring an additional 46,774 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $11.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $743.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,322,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,041,084. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $730.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $670.52. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last three months. 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.