Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Buys 161 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,525 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after acquiring an additional 859,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $390,630,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.23 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $728.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,923. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year 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 price of $723.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $641.98. The company has a market cap of $323.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.78, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business 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 company earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

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.