West Paces Advisors Inc. Has $1.17 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

West Paces Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,276 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $999.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $443.26 billion, a PE ratio of 58.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $720.63 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $962.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $958.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 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.