Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Trimmed by Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.

Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,963 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 81 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.6% of Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% 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 valued at $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on COST. 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. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,025.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $968.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.34. The company has a market cap of $454.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.21, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $788.20 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

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.