Parisi Gray Wealth Management Purchases 17 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parisi Gray Wealth Management raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,676 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.5% of Parisi Gray Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Parisi Gray Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Bank grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after acquiring an additional 96,566 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $732.76. The company had a trading volume of 117,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,133,009. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $723.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $641.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $324.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

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.