Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC Acquires 52 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 626 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $341,000. Certuity LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 20,330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,419,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,692 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,338,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 4,948 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,266,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $722.90. 1,701,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,045,081. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.61 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The business’s 50-day moving average is $730.46 and its 200-day moving average is $668.62.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

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.