Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 3,458 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,351 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $38,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $930.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $990.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $944.64. The company has a market capitalization of $413.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.64, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

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.