L & S Advisors Inc Acquires 64 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

L & S Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,175 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Allianz SE acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $20,616,000. Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 5,028 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,607,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $929.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $988.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $946.18. The stock has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale 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.