Austin Wealth Management LLC Sells 12 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Austin Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 774 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12 shares during the period. Austin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $556,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,726 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,827,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $63,200,000 after acquiring an additional 16,967 shares during the period. Summit X LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit X LLC now owns 619 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 12,223 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $413.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $944.64. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on COST. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.