Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,526 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 56 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.9% of Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,382,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,189,000. HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,194,000. Finally, Sterling Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 914 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned 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 $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

COST traded down $3.95 on Friday, hitting $707.30. 1,332,583 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,087,200. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $313.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.76 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $730.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $659.59.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value 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 approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.