Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC

Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 409 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 27 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Strategies in Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 888.9% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, 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 owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,182 shares of company stock valued at $9,809,558 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on COST. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $673.36.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $719.14. 1,119,620 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,124,199. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $318.94 billion, a PE ratio of 47.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.93 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $729.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $653.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

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.