Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 3,730 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,947 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,730 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $49,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ COST traded down $0.78 on Wednesday, reaching $715.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,375,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,101,598. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $730.92 and its 200-day moving average is $658.84. The stock has a market cap of $317.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.79, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current 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 is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.