Petrus Trust Company LTA Purchases Shares of 779 Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has acquired 779 shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation, valued at approximately $737,000, indicating institutional interest in the stock.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Costco, with the stock receiving multiple buy ratings and an average price target of $1,050.00.
• Costco recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 779 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,410,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $7.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $963.48. 1,926,561 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,000,147. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $962.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $976.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.65, a PEG ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,147 shares of company stock worth $8,039,440. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.