Baxter Bros Inc. Sells 20 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,831 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Potentia Wealth bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $282,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $952,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,697 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,193 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,010,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 324 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $926.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $987.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $945.73. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $410.87 billion, a PE ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.