Facet Wealth Inc. Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Facet Wealth Inc. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 622 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Facet Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after acquiring an additional 6,495 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,412,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,132 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Coastline Trust Co boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 9,022 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,998,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $903.92 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $697.27 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $989.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $944.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.