646 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Acquired by Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc.

Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 646 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.1% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,632,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

COST opened at $977.16 on Monday. 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 1-year low of $715.32 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $433.55 billion, a PE ratio of 57.38, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $966.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $956.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

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.