Martin Worley Group Invests $726,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Martin Worley Group purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 792 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Biltmore Family Office LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $1,849,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 164.8% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 2,139 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 201,822 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $184,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,927 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $965.08 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $988.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $947.48. The stock has a market cap of $428.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.67, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on COST shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.