Sheets Smith Wealth Management Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,728 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Monument Capital Management increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 528 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,504,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 132.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,945 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,039 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.9% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,458 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $11.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $743.90. 2,323,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $730.46 and a 200-day moving average of $673.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.