313 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by Seven Post Investment Office LP

Seven Post Investment Office LP purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 313 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Steph & Co. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of COST traded up $11.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $743.90. The stock had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $671.71. The company has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

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.