C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 17.4%, owning a total of 2,791 shares valued at approximately $2.66 million at the end of the most recent reporting period.
• Several large investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Nuveen LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Costco, contributing to 68.48% of the stock being owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Costco reported a quarterly EPS of $4.28, beating estimates, along with a revenue increase of 8.0% year-over-year, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,791 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during 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. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $991.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,587,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,215,102. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $439.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $856.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $985.81.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. 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 the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered 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 report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

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.