Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 297 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.2% of Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Grassi Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 5,155 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $485,000. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,008.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $973.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $972.06. The company has a market cap of $447.45 billion, a PE ratio of 59.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $788.20 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

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.