Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,068 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.8% of Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Steph & Co. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 888.9% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $730.67. The stock had a trading volume of 233,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,134,256. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $723.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $641.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total value of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.