Tranquility Partners LLC Has $4.71 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Tranquility Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,127 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 553 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.0% of Tranquility Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 172.6% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $715.19. 1,375,843 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,101,598. 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 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.78, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

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.