Optimize Financial Inc Invests $490,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 535 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $963.41 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $982.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $949.47. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $702.00 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 company has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.57, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $1,060.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.