Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Acquires 32 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 679 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 888.9% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $732.63. The stock had a trading volume of 1,711,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,158,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day moving average of $724.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $642.61. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The firm has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a PE ratio of 47.90, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total transaction of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

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.