Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,709 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.1% of Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 9,105 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,010,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. Rather & Kittrell Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Spinnaker Trust grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Spinnaker Trust now owns 8,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,786,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC now owns 16,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,873,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $729.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.41 and a 200 day moving average of $666.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.