Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA Has $177.02 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 254,747 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 859 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.8% of Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $177,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of COST traded up $5.95 on Monday, reaching $715.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,435,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,089,802. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $662.88. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

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.