Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Invests $236,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 357 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $2,328,844,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $730,877,000 after purchasing an additional 859,599 shares during the period. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at $390,630,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $731.08. 734,361 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,142,847. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.23 billion, a PE ratio of 47.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $723.33 and its 200 day moving average is $641.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $755.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total transaction of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.