Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 3,155.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,986 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

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Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $929.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,644,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,821,779. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $987.84 and a 200 day moving average of $946.11. The company has a market capitalization of $412.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.59, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.