Ethic Inc. Has $12.08 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,180 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,007.42 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $959.25 and its 200 day moving average is $962.32. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $763.61 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $446.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.