Aquire Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 223 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aquire Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 223 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 5,018 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,598,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,878 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 343,614 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $314,653,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407 shares during the last quarter. Petros Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,555,000. Finally, NFP Retirement Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $963.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $702.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $982.89 and a 200-day moving average of $949.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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 $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.