Welch & Forbes LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,760 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 778 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.0% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $153,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,708 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,398,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,026.62 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $989.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $942.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $455.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. TD Cowen raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,021.93.

About Costco Wholesale

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.