Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 35.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 411 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. United Bank increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 182.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,203,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 36,695 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,195,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $965.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $428.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $988.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $947.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.