Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Clark Capital Management Group Inc.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,856 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $8,430,000. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Finally, Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,522,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $1,007.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $446.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.16, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $959.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $962.32. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $763.61 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

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.