Vance Wealth Inc. Purchases 30 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vance Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 916 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Vance Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $605,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $7.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $729.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,524,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $666.77. 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 $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.