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

Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,068 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $1.41 on Thursday, reaching $730.67. 233,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,134,256. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $723.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $641.98. The company 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.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 740 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $683.50, for a total value of $505,790.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,593,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.