Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 931.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,146 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,550 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $965.08 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $428.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.67, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $988.67 and a 200 day moving average of $947.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,029.00.

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.