Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,768 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $723.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.05 billion, a PE ratio of 47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $664.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm 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 business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.