Van Strum & Towne Inc. Has $513,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Van Strum & Towne Inc. decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 777 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Van Strum & Towne Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $513,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 79.6% during the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,837,000 after purchasing an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,396.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 14,960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after acquiring an additional 13,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $732.63. 1,713,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $725.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $643.24. The firm has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.92, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. 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 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.