Accredited Wealth Management LLC Invests $303,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 331 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $4.39 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,010.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,356,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,030,342. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $961.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $960.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $746.48 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $448.34 billion, a PE ratio of 59.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

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.