Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Decreased by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 77,005 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,760 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $70,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 8,182 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,497,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Kane Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,323,000. Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 7,378 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,760,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 6,293 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,766,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $5,349,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $979.32 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $981.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $950.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $434.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.51, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.