Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,792 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.8% of Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. United Bank boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after buying an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $732.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,713,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $725.19 and a 200-day moving average of $643.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.50.

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.