Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,832 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares during the period. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen 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 $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:COST traded up $4.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $783.63. The stock had a trading volume of 799,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,012,927. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $732.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $677.29. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $347.54 billion, a PE ratio of 51.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. 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 earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

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.