Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC Acquires New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 562 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $95,452,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $9.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $1,008.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,412,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,730. The firm has a market capitalization of $447.45 billion, a PE ratio of 59.22, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $973.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $972.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $788.20 and a one year 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.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% 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, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

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.