Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Woodstock Corp's 9th Largest Position

Woodstock Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,471 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.1% of Woodstock Corp's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Woodstock Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $21,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $16.67 during trading on Monday, reaching $1,056.85. 2,146,355 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,052,281. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.91 billion, a PE ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $983.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $975.99. 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

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.