Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 982 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Steph & Co. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective 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. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $723.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,203,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,977. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $730.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $664.46. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.05 billion, a PE ratio of 47.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during 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 revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.