Enhancing Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,541 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,245,000. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.6% of Enhancing Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,030.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $916.61 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $406.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.82, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $989.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $945.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.