LWM Advisory Services LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

LWM Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 21 shares during the quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,519,468,000 after acquiring an additional 24,274 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,457,964,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $2.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $726.33. 1,526,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,049,164. The firm has a market cap of $322.13 billion, a PE ratio of 47.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $667.48.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

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.