Investment House LLC Has $59.67 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Investment House LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 65,118 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 3.2% of Investment House LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $59,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $263,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 13,450 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 181.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,145 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,107,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $898.05 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $989.21 and its 200 day moving average is $945.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $398.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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.