Fonville Wealth Management LLC Buys New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fonville Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 425 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded down $7.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $704.24. 614,785 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,077,400. The company has a 50-day moving average of $730.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $659.59. The company has a market capitalization of $312.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 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 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. 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 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

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.