Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 6,445 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,445 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $5,905,000. Costco Wholesale comprises 3.5% of Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

COST stock opened at $1,008.50 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $447.45 billion, a PE ratio of 59.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $788.20 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $973.21 and a 200-day moving average of $972.06.

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 firm had revenue of $63.72 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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.