Strong Tower Advisory Services Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,730 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $732.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $787.08. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $724.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $642.61.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Northcoast Research cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.