Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Buckley Wealth Management LLC

Buckley Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 191 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.8% of Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Buckley Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $984,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $903.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $989.80 and a 200-day moving average of $944.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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.