Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Raised by West Wealth Group LLC

West Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 455 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the quarter. West Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% in the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC boosted its position 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. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 79.6% in the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1,396.0% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 14,960 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,054,000 after purchasing an additional 13,960 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $729.97. The company had a trading volume of 209,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,133,643. The stock has a market cap of $323.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $723.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $641.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

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.