Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Cottage Street Advisors LLC

Cottage Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 330 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $930.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $412.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average is $987.84 and its 200-day moving average is $946.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.