Gray Wealth Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gray Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 525 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after acquiring an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $20,056,000. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $984,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $903.92 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $401.25 billion, a PE ratio of 53.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $989.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 target price (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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.