Wrapmanager Inc. Buys 21 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wrapmanager Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 787 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Aspire Private Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 122.0% in the 3rd quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 91 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, 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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $15.63 on Thursday, reaching $779.04. 1,715,288 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,026,843. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $731.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $676.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $345.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 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.