Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Purchases 1,110 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,856 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Cladis Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,341 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,455,570 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,333,695,000 after acquiring an additional 162,892 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 9,073 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,313,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’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 transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0 %

COST opened at $1,007.42 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $763.61 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $959.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $962.32. The firm has a market cap of $446.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.16, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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