DF Dent & Co. Inc. Lowers Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,688 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 36 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $503,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 38.6% during the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 40,349 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,971,000 after buying an additional 3,654 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 14,151 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,966,000 after buying an additional 2,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,300,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $965.08 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $988.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $947.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $428.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 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.