AJOVista LLC Invests $72,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 109 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:COST 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 company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $671.71.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

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.