Westbourne Investments Inc. Buys New Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,422 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,135,000. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.8% of Westbourne Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,088,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $994.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $715.32 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $963.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $957.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.36%.

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.