Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Accel Wealth Management

Accel Wealth Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 63.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 536 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Accel Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $862.66 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $812.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $745.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.