Telemus Capital LLC Sells 880 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Telemus Capital LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 46.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,017 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 880 shares during the period. Telemus Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,016.9% during the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 56,516 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,305,000 after purchasing an additional 51,456 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,820 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,403,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. Northwest Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 1,385 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 24,939 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,462,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,703 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,124,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $715.46 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $730.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $662.88. 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 quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $317.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.79, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

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.