Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,699 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 613 shares during the quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Raymond James boosted 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 report 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 boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $702.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $988.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $948.02. 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 company has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.