Fiduciary Group LLC Sells 154 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fiduciary Group LLC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,681 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of COST opened at $904.05 on Thursday. 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 $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $988.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $944.83. The firm has a market cap of $401.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.09, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.