Unio Capital LLC Purchases 2,576 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Unio Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,595 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,576 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 5.4% of Unio Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Unio Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8%

COST stock opened at $1,034.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $458.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.74, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $963.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $969.49. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $788.20 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

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.