Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 2,068 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,871 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 4,144 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,797,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,462,000. XY Planning Network Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $338,000. HWG Holdings LP raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. HWG Holdings LP now owns 6,757 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,191,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $417,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9%

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $9.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $1,017.79. 1,865,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,050,996. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.58 billion, a PE ratio of 59.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $975.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $973.43. 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 $788.20 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

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 analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.