Boston Family Office LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Boston Family Office LLC trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,487 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,077,905 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,820,193,000 after purchasing an additional 43,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,899,904 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,657,095,000 after purchasing an additional 91,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $945.78 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $419.63 billion, a PE ratio of 55.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $988.13 and a 200 day moving average of $947.08. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.