Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Sells 703 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,849 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 703 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

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Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $12.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $991.65. 176,565 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,999,591. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $702.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $981.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $950.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.