McAdam LLC Buys New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

McAdam LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 537 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after purchasing an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $656,274,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $726.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $322.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $730.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $668.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.