Syon Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Syon Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,013 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 237 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $979.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $971.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $954.07. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $714.41 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $434.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.50, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. Equities research 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 paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value 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 represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale 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.