Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Buys 52 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 707 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $9.97 on Monday, reaching $721.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,110,336. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $319.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $730.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $656.72.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at $4,593,803.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,182 shares of company stock worth $9,809,558. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Northcoast Research downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

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.