Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Increased by Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,118 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. Umpqua Bank increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $241,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $63,200,000 after buying an additional 16,967 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, 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 transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of COST traded down $6.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $985.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,714,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,564. 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 firm has a market cap of $437.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.92, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.97. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $1,005.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.68. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 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.