Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC Buys New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,434 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $40.70 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,049.44. The company had a trading volume of 2,705,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,599. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $465.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $981.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $974.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is 30.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.