J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 1,023 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,798 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,023 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $1.74 on Friday, reaching $709.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,190,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,139. The firm has a market cap of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $730.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $660.55. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.