B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $19.33 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,091 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,643 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.6% of B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $19,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grassi Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 5,155 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $485,000. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $9.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,017.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,865,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,050,996. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $975.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $973.43. The firm has a market cap of $451.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $788.20 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.