Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC raised 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. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,396.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 14,960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after buying an additional 13,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Northcoast Research cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,593,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

COST traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $731.08. 734,361 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,142,847. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $723.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $641.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $324.23 billion, a PE ratio of 47.81, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.