Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC Invests $5.35 Million in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,834 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,345,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Grassi Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 5,155 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,723,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,441,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $485,000. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7%

COST stock opened at $1,018.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $451.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.78, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $971.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $971.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Equities analysts forecast 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 given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

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.