LifeSteps Financial Inc. Has $952,000 Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,443 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted 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 buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 888.9% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $732.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,713,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. 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 company has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $725.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $643.24.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.