American Financial Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 307 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

American Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 307 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,028,000. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,770,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,382,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,189,000. Finally, HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,194,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $709.51 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $314.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $730.29 and its 200-day moving average is $660.55. 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $760.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total value of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.