Van Strum & Towne Inc. Sells 50 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 727 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $903.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $989.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $944.22.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.