A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. Acquires Shares of 200 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 200 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $132,000. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 24.3% of A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after buying an additional 132,292 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $9.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $855.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,395,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,735,517. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $516.54 and a 1-year high of $856.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $774.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $722.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.