Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,846 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,519 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.9% of Xponance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $103,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $916.61 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $406.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $697.27 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $989.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $945.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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.