Certuity LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Certuity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,569 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 17,361 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,820,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,300 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,384,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Busey Trust CO increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 13,211 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,464,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 34.7% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 3,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the 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 $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $3.93 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $722.40. 606,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,031,625. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $668.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $320.38 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.