Vicus Capital Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vicus Capital lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 330 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 190 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $709.51 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $730.29 and its 200 day moving average is $661.85.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

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.