Hoey Investments Inc. Purchases 310 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 70.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 753 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $929.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $988.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $946.86. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,029.00.

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.