Ghe LLC Acquires 47 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ghe LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,456 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 2.6% of Ghe LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,689,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,519,468,000 after acquiring an additional 24,274 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,580,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,457,964,000 after acquiring an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after acquiring an additional 323,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $723.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,203,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,977. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The stock has a market cap of $321.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.34, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $730.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $664.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.68%.

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.