ROI Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ROI Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,802 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 398 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 6.1% of ROI Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. ROI Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $7,203,000. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 11,755 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,421,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Temasek Holdings Private Ltd now owns 45,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,149,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,053,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 5.2 %

COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $702.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $988.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $947.67. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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.