Brio Consultants LLC Buys New Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Brio Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Costco, buying 782 shares worth approximately $740,000 during the first quarter.
• Costco reported $4.28 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $63.21 billion, reflecting an 8% year-over-year increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, set to be paid on August 15th, with a dividend yield of 0.56%.

Brio Consultants LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 782 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $740,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Peninsula Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Bosun Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. NFP Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer's stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $933.99 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $414.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $990.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $984.21.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% 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 valued at $9,472,510 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Loop Capital reduced their price target 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. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

About Costco Wholesale

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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