Belmont Capital LLC Has $183,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Belmont Capital LLC lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 81.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 200 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 876 shares during the quarter. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $183,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 41,049 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $37,612,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 8,758 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,025,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 401,853 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $368,241,000 after purchasing an additional 38,787 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Sarl grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 60,346 shares of the retailer's stock worth $55,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,259 shares during the period. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,261,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business'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 value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $994.50 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $702.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The business's fifty day moving average is $977.26 and its 200 day moving average is $951.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 27.09%.

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.

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