Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,810 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 122.0% in the third quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 91 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $801.86. 1,191,507 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,978,666. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $806.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $738.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $692.35.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its 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 return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid 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 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.