DDD Partners LLC Sells 48 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

DDD Partners LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,775 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.6% of DDD Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. DDD Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after buying an additional 859,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $390,630,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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 upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $732.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.88, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $723.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $641.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

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.