Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Raised by Strategic Blueprint LLC

Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,989 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,182 shares of company stock valued at $9,809,558 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $673.36.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $711.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $315.69 billion, a PE ratio of 46.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $728.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $651.99. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $476.75 and a fifty-two week high of $787.08.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.81 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 26.68%.

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.