Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 782 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of COST traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $709.51. 2,134,884 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,098,663. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $659.59. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.