Western Wealth Management LLC Has $11.46 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Western Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,360 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $220,948,000 after acquiring an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $3.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $711.25. 1,845,885 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,098,199. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $730.83 and a 200-day moving average of $659.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $315.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.77 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,727 shares of company stock valued at $8,170,388 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.