Sheets Smith Wealth Management Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,728 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 8,334 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,501,000 after buying an additional 1,923 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,453 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,540 shares during the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $11.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $743.90. 2,323,300 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. 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 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $730.46 and its 200 day moving average is $673.08. The company has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.