Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Reduced by ICW Investment Advisors LLC

ICW Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,099 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 134 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 2.0% of ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,012 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.2% in the third quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 520 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.9% during the third quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 715 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,851 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,770 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.1 %

COST traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $723.73. 540,752 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,027,080. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $730.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $669.72. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.