Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 37.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 625 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Vantage Financial Partners Ltd. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 125.4% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,312 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 515,636 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $340,361,000 after acquiring an additional 24,115 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 27,725 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,301,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $237,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $845.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $375.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $760.25 and a 200 day moving average of $713.33. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $512.50 and a twelve month high of $850.38.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $750.00.

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.