Kovack Advisors Inc. Decreases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,131 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,192 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,033 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Financial LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clarity Financial LLC now owns 27,357 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,455,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $729.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,523,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,590. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $666.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.69, a PEG ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

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.