SoundView Advisors Inc. Invests $5.44 Million in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

SoundView Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,936 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,439,000. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.2% of SoundView Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 443,747 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $393,391,000 after buying an additional 6,495 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the period. Arvest Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 19.2% in the third quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 316 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 1,838 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $934.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $989.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $944.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,030.43.

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.