Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Cut by GeoWealth Management LLC

GeoWealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,232 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,088,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 76.8% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.8 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $994.50 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $702.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $975.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $952.32. The firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 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.