Blankinship & Foster LLC Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Blankinship & Foster LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 98.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 320 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 17,938 shares during the quarter. Blankinship & Foster LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $964.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $428.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $989.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $942.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.