Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC Takes $744,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 812 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $744,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $987.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $946.11. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $697.27 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $412.74 billion, a PE ratio of 54.62, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment 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 a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.