Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,311 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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 position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,383 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $7.90 on Wednesday, reaching $763.41. 1,511,411 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,030,519. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $731.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $675.97. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $338.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

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.