Inscription Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,734 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,640,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. RW Investment Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,153,000 after buying an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $2.82 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $974.90. 1,506,193 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,065,456. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,002.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $981.16. The company has a market capitalization of $432.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.