Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,273 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 226 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $916.61 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $989.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $945.08. 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 stock has a market cap of $406.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.82, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

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.