Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Has $2.13 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,224 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Choreo LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,122 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,184,000 after buying an additional 2,715 shares during the period. McAdam LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $354,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 9,831 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,489,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Flaharty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC now owns 439 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $6.66 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $722.52. 638,310 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,038,129. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $476.75 and a 12-month high of $787.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $320.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.22, a PEG ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $730.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $667.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 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 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.