Gould Capital LLC Sells 62 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gould Capital LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,008.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $447.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.22, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $973.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $972.57. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $788.20 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

About Costco Wholesale

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.