Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Makes New $458,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 625 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Whelan Financial grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 691 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $506,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $206,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $2,480,000. New Century Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 140.1% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 5,427 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of 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 through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $862.66 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $812.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $745.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.