Summit Financial LLC Has $25.58 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,916 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.9% of Summit Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. United Bank raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,758 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 176.6% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 130 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

COST stock opened at $929.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. 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 fifty day moving average price of $988.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $946.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly 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). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.