Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Congress Wealth Management LLC DE

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 56,503 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,620 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.7% of Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $51,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Swedbank AB grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $393,391,000 after buying an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.0% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,652 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1,760.3% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 7,460 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,613,000 after purchasing an additional 7,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truepoint Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $465,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.5 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $909.26 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $403.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.39, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $987.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $945.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.