Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,635 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.
Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%
COST opened at $1,014.94 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $993.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $979.81.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.
Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Costco Wholesale
Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale
In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
About Costco Wholesale
(
Free Report)
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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