Arkadios Wealth Advisors Acquires 2,394 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 53.8%, owning 6,846 shares valued at approximately $6.48 million as of the last quarter.
• Several analysts have set new price targets for Costco, with Morgan Stanley raising its target from $1,150 to $1,225 and Telsey Advisory Group setting a target of $1,100.
• Costco plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 0.56%, payable on August 15th.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 53.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,846 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,394 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $710,624,000 after purchasing an additional 343,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $280,046,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. 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 research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of COST stock traded down $7.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $927.51. 1,682,635 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,458. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.61, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $986.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.