First Pacific Financial Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Pacific Financial lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,683 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.0% of First Pacific Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 1,291 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Shira Ridge Wealth Management increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 1,367 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at $4,593,803.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $732.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.68 billion, a PE ratio of 47.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $723.33 and a 200-day moving average of $641.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.