AJOVista LLC Buys Shares of 109 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 109 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,276 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 1,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 11,598 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,656,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $76,566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale 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 value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $11.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $743.90. 2,323,300 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $671.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.35%.

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.