Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Rench Wealth Management Inc.

Rench Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,378 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.3% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Rench Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $979.32 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $434.51 billion, a PE ratio of 57.51, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $981.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $950.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is 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.