Private Management Group Inc. Buys 61 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Private Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 974 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 54,974 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $36,287,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,260,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,961 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $1.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $723.89. 1,150,430 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,062,912. 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 firm has a market cap of $321.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $730.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $664.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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%. 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 payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.