Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Orion Capital Management LLC

Orion Capital Management LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Orion Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,036.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $460.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $966.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $969.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.