Financial Counselors Inc. Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Financial Counselors Inc. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,302 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 829 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $73,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SwitchPoint Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $250,000. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $744,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $526,000. Momentous Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $642,000. Finally, Aire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 4,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised 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, UBS Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $930.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $987.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $946.11. 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 capitalization of $412.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.