Altshuler Shaham Ltd Buys Shares of 121 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 121 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,633,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Roth Mkm increased 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. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $15.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $779.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,715,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,843. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $731.53 and its 200-day moving average is $676.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $345.51 billion, a PE ratio of 50.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last 90 days. Company 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.