Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Boosted by Horan Capital Advisors LLC.

Horan Capital Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 810 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Horan Capital Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 61.8% in the fourth quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,427,000 after buying an additional 826 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $206,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 225.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 67,522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $44,570,000 after buying an additional 46,774 shares during the period. Smart Money Group LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $317,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $743.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $671.71.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

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.