Milestone Asset Management Group LLC Takes $1.09 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,184 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,085,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,223,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Nestegg Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $936,000. M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $481,000. Finally, DSG Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,287,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $40.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $1,048.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. The firm has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $983.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $975.99.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 30.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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 note on Monday, March 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

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.