Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC Invests $2.02 Million in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,988 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,017,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.9% of Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer's stock worth $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.0% during the third quarter. Keating Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,643 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,493,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Rice Partnership LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.0% during the third quarter. Rice Partnership LLC now owns 11,741 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,633,000 after buying an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 814 shares of the retailer's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to an "accumulate" rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $7.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $722.68. The stock had a trading volume of 1,174,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,079,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.26, a PEG ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The stock's fifty day moving average is $730.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $664.04.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 30.35%.

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.

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