Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 498 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,729 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $8,430,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Finally, Manuka Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,010.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $448.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $787.83 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company's 50-day moving average price is $959.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $966.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of 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, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

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.

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