Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA Invests $279,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 304 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 760 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,690,138,000 after buying an additional 78,590 shares during the period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the third quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,149 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,792,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 32,858 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,114,000 after acquiring an additional 10,054 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $926.04 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $697.27 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. 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 stock has a market cap of $410.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $987.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $945.73.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently 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.