PKS Advisory Services LLC Purchases New Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

PKS Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,039 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 760 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $674,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,690,138,000 after purchasing an additional 78,590 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,149 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,792,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 44.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 32,858 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,114,000 after purchasing an additional 10,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of COST opened at $926.04 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $987.58 and its 200 day moving average is $945.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.87 billion, a PE ratio of 54.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Costco Wholesale 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.