Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 253,731 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,807 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 3.7% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Costco Wholesale worth $167,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 194.0% in the 3rd quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 13,404 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,845 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,449 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,773,000 after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 7,364 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,159,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 474,901 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $268,300,000 after purchasing an additional 34,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Clarity Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,644 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,578,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on COST. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $13.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $809.73. 1,622,900 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,680. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $816.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $744.24 and a 200-day moving average of $699.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.