Concord Wealth Partners Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Concord Wealth Partners raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,804 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,991 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $267,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 482,032 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $318,180,000 after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 4,041 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Day In July LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. One Day In July LLC now owns 571 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $728.71. The stock had a trading volume of 803,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,196. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $669.72. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $323.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.12, a PEG ratio of 4.84 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 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 is presently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.