Boston Family Office LLC Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Boston Family Office LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,487 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 362 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $945.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $988.13 and a 200-day moving average of $947.08. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $419.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on COST. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

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.