Connecticut Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,540 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 51.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,453 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,540 shares during the quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optas LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $11.46 on Friday, hitting $743.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. The stock has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $730.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $671.71. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.