Wayfinding Financial LLC Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,545 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,164,000. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.2% of Wayfinding Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. DA Davidson increased their price target 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. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $895.40 on Friday. 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 market cap of $397.47 billion, a PE ratio of 52.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $988.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $944.49. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $697.27 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.