Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Hill Investment Group Partners LLC

Hill Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 54.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 682 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Hill Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Steph & Co. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 888.9% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $732.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,713,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,605,208. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.92, a PEG ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $725.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $643.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. 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 previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.