United Asset Strategies Inc. Acquires 272 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,079 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings 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 valued at $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after purchasing an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $715.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $317.53 billion, a PE ratio of 46.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $730.92 and a 200-day moving average of $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

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.