Accel Wealth Management Acquires 208 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Accel Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 63.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 536 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $862.66 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $812.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $745.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. 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.