Harrington Investments INC Has $4.84 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Harrington Investments INC decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,278 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.7% of Harrington Investments INC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Harrington Investments INC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,412,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 4,621 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 185,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,968,000 after acquiring an additional 6,963 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $903.92 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $989.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $944.22. The firm has a market cap 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. 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 data 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). The company 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. 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.