Absolute Capital Management LLC Buys 87 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Absolute Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,669 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Absolute Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $895.40 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $988.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $944.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $397.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.58, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.