Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC Invests $341,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Epic Trust Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 516 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,555 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 17,361 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the third quarter. Carderock Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,300 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,384,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Busey Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.9% in the third quarter. Busey Trust CO now owns 13,211 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,464,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.7% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 3,493 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

COST traded down $2.53 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $723.80. 870,719 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,032,724. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $730.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $668.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $321.01 billion, a PE ratio of 47.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. 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 currently 30.35%.

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.