33,543 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Bought by Madison Investment Advisors LLC

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 33,543 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $30,734,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $927.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.53 billion, a PE ratio of 54.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $990.44 and its 200-day moving average is $944.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $697.27 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $840.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,030.43.

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.