Centric Wealth Management Sells 47 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Centric Wealth Management decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,033 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 47 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $735,000 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. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $7.57 on Wednesday, hitting $763.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,030,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,024,366. The business has a 50 day moving average of $731.22 and a 200 day moving average of $675.97. The stock has a market cap of $338.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 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 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

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.