SWP Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

SWP Financial LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 335 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Finally, Rice Partnership LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Argus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $845.00 to $860.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $867.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $870.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $777.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $725.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.