Delta Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Delta Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 386 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Financial & Tax Architects LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 25.5% during the third quarter. Financial & Tax Architects LLC now owns 1,390 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $785,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 1,695 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $961,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. GDS Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $223,000. Jmac Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 50.5% in the third quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $766,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the third quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 475 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 transaction, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $7.32 on Friday, reaching $729.18. The stock had a trading volume of 1,524,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $730.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $666.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The company has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.35%.

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.