EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $125.11 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,542 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,881 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.0% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $125,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,522,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $1,010.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.34 billion, a PE ratio of 59.34, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $755.57 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $960.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $961.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on COST. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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