Hemenway Trust Co LLC Purchases 37 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,627 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,916,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 5.2 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $916.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $988.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.67. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased 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. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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.