Auto Owners Insurance Co Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 864.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,147 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,717 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grove Street Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $202,000. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 91.7% in the 1st quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 4,300 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the last quarter. Kidder Stephen W boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 102.2% during the 1st quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 544 shares of the retailer's stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Redwood Park Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,650 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,452,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $941.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $417.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $998.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $983.64. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. 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.

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