Advance Capital Management Inc. Purchases 119 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Advance Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 371 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price target (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $880.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded up $6.13 on Monday, reaching $922.71. 1,882,886 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,610,474. The stock has a market cap of $409.59 billion, a PE ratio of 54.18, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $654.03 and a twelve month high of $1,008.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $943.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $896.64.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

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.