West Wealth Group LLC Has $300,000 Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

West Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 455 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. West Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 1,291 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Shira Ridge Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Shira Ridge Wealth Management now owns 1,367 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $902,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.11 during trading on Thursday, reaching $729.97. 209,672 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,133,643. The company’s 50 day moving average is $723.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $641.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $323.74 billion, a PE ratio of 47.82, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.