CGN Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,254 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $2,132,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,494,000. Finally, RW Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock worth $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $3.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $1,051.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,420,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,049,749. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $466.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business's 50-day moving average price is $988.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $977.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.