Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,586 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 295 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,328,844,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,942 shares of company stock worth $7,602,943. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of COST traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $715.48. The company had a trading volume of 654,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,610. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $659.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $317.32 billion, a PE ratio of 46.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

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.