Disciplined Investments LLC Buys Shares of 303 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Disciplined Investments LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 303 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $4.13 on Friday, reaching $1,014.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,852,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,141. The stock's 50-day moving average is $993.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $979.66. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.