Northwest Wealth Management LLC Purchases 65 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northwest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renasant Bank raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 1,047 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 12,730 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,664,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 13,252 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,142,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,082,000. Finally, LBP AM SA raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 16,246 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,886,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $890.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $395.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $697.27 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $990.05 and its 200-day moving average is $944.14.

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 return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.