Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Raised by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,366 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $729.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. 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 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.35%.

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.