Canal Capital Management LLC Sells 18 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Canal Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 604 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Canal Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $994.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $953.37. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $706.17 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.