Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 101.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,979 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,530 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,226,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 743 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 53.4% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 36.5% in the second quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 11,696 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,941,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $924.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $675.96 and a one year high of $1,008.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $948.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $899.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $410.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.30, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 27.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on COST. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,013.59.

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.