Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ: COST – Get Rating) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,556 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 310 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.5% of Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $ 883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,185,105 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $ 2,447,261,000 after acquiring an additional 91,694 shares during the last quarter. NorthCoast Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $ 265,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 27,407 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $ 12,315,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 51,072 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $ 22,949,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $ 4,291,000. Institutional investors own 67.52% of the company stock.
In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 250 shares of the company stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 554.67, for a total transaction of $ 138,667.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 500 shares of the company stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $ 602.03, for a total transaction of $ 301,015.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,939 shares in the company, valued at $ 5,983,576.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,248 shares of company stock worth $ 5,417,137 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company stock.
Shares of COST stock opened at $ 458.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $ 203.23 billion, a P / E ratio of 36.13, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.71. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $ 377.12 and a 52 week high of $ 612.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company fifty day simple moving average is $ 510.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $ 525.38.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $ 3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $ 3.03 by $ 0.01. The business had revenue of $ 52.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $ 51.49 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 29.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $ 2.75 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 29th were given a dividend of $ 0.90 per share. This represents a $ 3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $ 0.79. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 28th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.35%.
COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $ 570.00 to $ 550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $ 561.00 to $ 627.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $ 590.00 to $ 510.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating and set a $ 580.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $ 600.00 to $ 560.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $ 569.56.
About Costco Wholesale: (Get Rating)
Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.
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