Fire Capital Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fire Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,335 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 4.0%

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $40.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1,048.78. The company had a trading volume of 5,400,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $983.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $975.99. The firm has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

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.