MONECO Advisors LLC Sells 116 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

MONECO Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,585 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $867.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $384.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $777.18 and its 200-day moving average is $725.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $516.54 and a 52 week high of $870.56.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

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.