Palogic Value Management L.P. Makes New $204,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Palogic Value Management L.P. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 223 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 5,962 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 182.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 409 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peterson Wealth Management now owns 7,297 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,469,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,377 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,767,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $328,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,029.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

COST stock opened at $929.66 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. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $697.27 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $988.07 and its 200 day moving average is $946.18. The firm has a market cap of $412.47 billion, a PE ratio of 54.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.