Marshall Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 281 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 281 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $510,353,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $862.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $812.88 and a 200-day moving average of $745.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 and a 52-week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during 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%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

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.