2,466 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Bought by Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 2,466 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,260,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 43,204 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,587,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 3,084 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 6,856 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,007.42 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $763.61 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $959.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $962.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.97 billion, a PE ratio of 59.16, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

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.