Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Has $3.38 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,124 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $3,189,000. HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,194,000. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 914 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Fonville Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,184 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’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 approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $3.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $707.97. 1,159,065 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,085,476. The firm has a market cap of $313.98 billion, a PE ratio of 46.30, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $659.59. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $476.75 and a 12 month high of $787.08.

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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 26.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $691.28.

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.