Beck Mack & Oliver LLC Acquires 61 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Beck Mack & Oliver LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,493 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.1% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,632,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Fulcrum Equity Management grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment 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, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $994.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $952.32. 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 firm has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $702.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

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.