Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC

Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,690 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,706 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.5% of Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during 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 shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $903.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $989.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $944.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Raymond James lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

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.