Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,129 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after buying an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in 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. Bell Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Bank now owns 2,332 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,067,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,214,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,265,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $890.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $395.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.30, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $990.05 and a 200-day moving average of $944.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. 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 issued 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale 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.