Inspire Advisors LLC Buys 12 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Miramar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $927.08 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $944.52. The company has a market capitalization of $411.53 billion, a PE ratio of 54.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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 restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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.