Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Purchases 28 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,197 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COST. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $1.69 during trading on Monday, hitting $850.00. The stock had a trading volume of 669,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,993. The company has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.34, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. 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 $521.26 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $788.13 and its 200 day moving average is $732.58.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.