Accel Wealth Management Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Accel Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 328 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,108,655 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,287,718,000 after purchasing an additional 333,308 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,844,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $732.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,711,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,158,359. The company has a market capitalization of $324.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $724.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $642.61. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.