Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 931.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,146 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $10,916,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $50.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $916.48. 5,160,400 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,957,458. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $406.63 billion, a PE ratio of 53.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50-day moving average price is $989.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $947.61.

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Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,029.00.

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.