Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,718 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 37 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. Bank of Hawaii boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 1,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 385,352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $353,103,000 after acquiring an additional 13,869 shares during the period. One Degree Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. One Degree Advisors Inc now owns 2,339 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Fortune 45 LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortune 45 LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $965.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $702.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $984.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $948.65. The firm has a market cap of $428.24 billion, a PE ratio of 56.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 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 analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.79.

Insider Activity 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, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.