Crowley Wealth Management Inc. Makes New $393,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 429 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $929.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,644,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,823,661. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $412.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $697.27 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $987.96 and its 200-day moving average is $946.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given 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 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on COST. Barclays increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.