Brighton Jones LLC Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,727 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Roth Mkm upped their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $722.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,734,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,045,451. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $730.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $668.62. The stock has a market cap of $320.61 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 a positive change 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.