Jackson Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,105 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,625 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.8% of Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.46.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.19 on Friday, reaching $822.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. The firm has a market cap of $364.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $843.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $771.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.