Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.7% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meritage Portfolio Management acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $290,000. Bank of New Hampshire grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 6,621 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,370,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Nadler Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Nadler Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 26,695 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,621,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,261,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on COST. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $7.32 on Friday, reaching $729.18. 1,512,674 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,051,284. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.31 and a 200-day moving average of $664.86. The firm has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.62, a P/E/G 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Costco Wholesale 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.