Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Madison Wealth Partners Inc

Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,002 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $9.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $855.67. 1,394,361 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,971,960. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $771.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $719.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $856.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.73, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.