590 Shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Purchased by Calton & Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. has acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by purchasing 590 shares valued at approximately $558,000 in the first quarter of 2023.
• Analysts have mixed views on Costco, with some like Telsey Advisory Group issuing an "outperform" rating and target price of $1,100, while others, such as Erste Group Bank, have downgraded the stock to a "hold" rating.
• Costco recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.6%, and reports a return on equity of 30.48% for the previous fiscal quarter.

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 590 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bosun Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the first quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer's stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $1.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $943.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,606,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,241,319. The company has a market capitalization of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. 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's 50-day moving average price is $965.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $979.61.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

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.