Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Chapman Investment Management LLC

Chapman Investment Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,472 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 8.3% of Chapman Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Chapman Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Overbrook Management Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 1,553 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 6,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,446,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 31,360 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,700,000 after buying an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $729.18. 1,524,431 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,722. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.69, a PEG ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $666.04. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $694.48.

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.