Skopos Labs Inc. Buys Shares of 3,034 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Skopos Labs Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,034 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,003,000. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.0% of Skopos Labs Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased 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 purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in 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 research firms recently weighed in on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.88.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $13.39 on Friday, reaching $809.73. 1,621,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,970,665. 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 one year low of $476.75 and a one year high of $816.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $740.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $693.83. The stock has a market cap of $359.12 billion, a PE ratio of 53.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.