Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC Lowers Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 557 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 122 shares during the quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $1.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $709.51. 2,190,356 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,668,139. 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 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $730.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $660.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.