Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 332 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $957.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $424.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.24, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $706.17 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $973.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $953.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.