Callan Capital LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Callan Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,325 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Callan Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after purchasing an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $729.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,524,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The firm has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a PE ratio of 47.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $730.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $666.04. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

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.